Three weeks ago I attempted to save the yeast from a NB Extra Pale Ale Kit (extract). It was Wyeast 1056. I had the yeast cake in three different pint jars. They’ve been in the fridge since then. Yesterday I made a starter using 1 cup of DME and 4 cups water. While I was making the starter I had 2/3 of the pint jars out of the fridge. Once the wort had cooled. I took the water off the top of the yeast cakes and scooped the rest into the starter. I used a stir plate and let it go for 24 hours. It looked and smelled like a normal starter to me. Though this is only my second time making a starter, and last time I used a smack pack.
This morning I brewed a NB RyePA kit and dumped that starter in. I hit just below the expected OG … I think the box said 1.065 and I’m at about 1.062… smelled and looked great. I dumped in my starter once everything had cooled. I came home from work about 13 hours later and I do not see much activity at all yet.
I’m not going to W tonight but I might W tomorrow if I wake up and don’t see anything. Am I gonna make it? Should I plan on a 10am trip to NB to pick up a US05 or wha?
EDIT: It worked fine. Bubbling away now. But if you notice anything I did that was a bad idea let me know.
I always take the beer off and pitch just the yeast, with harvests or starters. The starter beer will not taste good since it’s fermented high and fast.
Cool. Makes sense to me. Even though the amount of beer in the starter seems unsubstantial I still thought it would be nice to grab just the yeast. Would try your method next time around.
next time, start your starter 5-7 days before you plan to brew. Let the starter do its thing for 3-4 days and then cold crash for a day or two. Decant and pitch.
If you KNOW that you have fresh yeast, you can cut a day or two out of this, but sometimes my starters take a day or two to get moving.
Yea, well he works for Wyeast and has access to some pretty fresh yeast. Because I harvest yeast, some of what I am making starters with is 6-8 months old. I get great results if I give it time. Even though I have a stir plate, I wait until I have real activity and that can take 24 - 36 hours with occasional shaking. When it starts, I put it on the stir plate for 24 to 36 hours, but will often give it a break overnight or while I am at work. For bigger beers, I will step it up again. Another 2 days.
All I am saying, is give peace a chance…ooops, no, I am suggesting that 3-4 days would never be too much time to set aside to make a proper starter that you can chill down and decant the liquid. That would be my minimum…except, last night I made a starter for brewing this weekend using yeast that was harvested about 3 - 4 weeks ago. I wanted to be sure. I took right off, so I know that on Saturday or Sunday I will have good healthy yeast.
[quote=“560sdl”]Yea, well he works for Wyeast and has access to some pretty fresh yeast. Because I harvest yeast, some of what I am making starters with is 6-8 months old. I get great results if I give it time. Even though I have a stir plate, I wait until I have real activity and that can take 24 - 36 hours with occasional shaking. When it starts, I put it on the stir plate for 24 to 36 hours, but will often give it a break overnight or while I am at work. For bigger beers, I will step it up again. Another 2 days.
All I am saying, is give peace a chance…ooops, no, I am suggesting that 3-4 days would never be too much time to set aside to make a proper starter that you can chill down and decant the liquid. That would be my minimum…except, last night I made a starter for brewing this weekend using yeast that was harvested about 3 - 4 weeks ago. I wanted to be sure. I took right off, so I know that on Saturday or Sunday I will have good healthy yeast.[/quote]
I see. This all makes great sense to me too. Much appreciate the explanation! Cheers.
There is so much confusing (and/or conflicting) information out there that it is easy to get very confused. Very soon you will get comfortable doing things a certain way and adjust accordingly.
