I shook my carboy like it owed me money for about a minute. I then put it down in the swamp cooler and got distracted cleaning up a little. I didn’t pitch till about 15 minutes later. I was curious if the oxygen escaped in that time. I only pitched about 3 hours ago and there’s no activity yet. Should I shake it some more or just leave it as is. It’s 1.090 OG so the yeast are going to need all the help they can get (2 step starter so pitch rate is good)
Nevermind. It’s bubbling. I’ll leave it be
Hey man, I know you solved your own problem here, but I’m just curious… what exactly is a “2 step” yeast starter? Does that mean you used 2 vials/smack packs in the starter? When I finally get my flask and stir plate, I want to try making something high gravity like an Imperial Stout or Double IPA.
Thanks
2 step starter means you fully ferment your starter wort (typically about 24-48 hours) put it in the fridge for about 48 hours so the yeast drops out of suspension and then decant off most of the liquid on top of the yeast. You then cook and cool another starter solution and pour it over the existing yeast in your starter vessel.
So essentially you are fermenting twice with the same yeast starting with a single pack. This greatly increases the yeast cell count.
Check out http://www.yeastcalc.com and that should give you an idea, based on your OG, if you require a single or multi-step starter.
Awesome! Thanks for the info.
