Wyeast 1968 Esb Starter

[saintbanger]

Hey There

Might have a problem with my starter for my batch i was going to put down this afternoon. Have done a few liquid yeasts before, always smack then build up and split into 6 stubbies. Then before brew day take out of the fridge to warm up and make up a litre of 1.040 LDME. As usual I pour of a little of the beer on top to smell and taste before pitching the rest into the flask to get going. This smelt OK but the taste was a little strange, quite sweet and a bit of an aftertaste.(not very good at describing it). Thought I would give it a go anyway, so swirled everytime I was near and all looked good.

Been a day and a half now, I was about to use it but have had another smell and taste. That same sweet taste is there and just does not seem quite right. My problem is have no dry yeast as back up but don't want to pitch this if it is no good. Have not used the 1968 so don't know if the taste is normal. Any ideas?

Cheers

Dave

 

[RdeVjun]

Its very hard to tell sometimes, there's not many sure- fire indicators for starters. It doesn't hurt to be ruthless in trusting your instincts, I'm sure I've tossed starters that would've been quite OK to use, but I've usually got a backup handy.
However, I'd ask if you're sure that has fully fermented? 36 hours might be a bit early, that could explain the sweetness.

 

[Steve@PMF82]

When you built up the smack pack, did you let it ferment out fully? check gravity

I know from using this yeast it is a low attenuator and can leave a bit of residual sweetness in a fully ferment beer.

If a starter is infected it should be pretty easy to tell.

All my starters using 1968 have smelt / tasted malty sweet with a hint of fruitiness due to the temps 22 - 23c

 

[outbreak]

I've got a 1968 starter going at the moment, and it definatley tastes a bit sweeter and and I pick up some fruity flavours. A lot different to the 1272 starter i tasted this morning! 1968 is one hell of a floccer! The yeast was so compact in the bottom of the test tube, any of the american ale or coopers strains I have in tubes mix up after a quick shake, I had to shake the 1968 test tube for like 5 minutes to break it up.

 

[saintbanger]

Thanks for the help guys.

Maybe I didn't let it fully ferment before splitting it into stubbies. Was tough to keep it warm enough in the house during this cold snap in Melbourne. Have used 1272 as well and that was lovely as a starter this one is just a bit weird. Have hit up a mate of mine for some dried stuff. Will go and have another taste of the sample glass now and decide.

 

[felten]

It's a unique ester profile, one of my favourite yeasts ever. Roger Protz always describes it as marmalade fruitiness, I liken it more to ripe stone fruit.

 

[saintbanger]

Decided to ditch the starter, got a mate to bring over some s-04. Will try it again with a less expensive batch just in case. Just hadn't tasted anything like that before.

Cheers

 

[bullsneck]

It's a bit OT, but is this yeast a top-cropper? My reading up on it has yielded no results about whether it canbe top cropped or not. If any 1968 old hands file lend some advice, that would be great.