Hi All,
I intended on making my starter this morning for a Saison using Wyeast 3522 Belg Ardennes. Smacked yesterday morning, NOTHING happening in pack this AM. Can I still use it in my starter today even though there was no apparent activity/expansion? Is the yeast bad? I had it in the fridge for 2-months prior to today.
Thanks, Mike
There is no need for the pack to swell before making a starter.
Thank you. I made my starter. It’s on the kitchen counter, looking like a light brown wart, no activity, no bubbles, just hangin out. Am I supposted to see the ambitious bubble/gurgle of a fermentation at this point inside my beaker? Or?
Are you shaking it every time you walk by? Can it breathe? How long has it been?
I roused the beaker consistently yesterday and checked it this morning. I am not sure what I’m supposed to be seeing. Here is a pic of what I woke up to. My goal is to brew this evening but if I’ve got a bad batch, I need help to identify this. Thanks,
That does look a little flat, but there are some bubbles so depending on how recently you shook it, it might be fine. Any yeast settled on the bottom?
I just brewed from two starters that I made. One was from a 2-3 month old harvested batch of Denny’s favorite 50. It took right off as a starter.
The other was a British Ale II, I forget the strain #. It looked a lot like yours but eventually started foaming a lot when I shook it.
I stepped both up twice and each time the 1450 was much faster to krausen.
Brewed both batches last night and this morning, the British Ale II was bubbling and the other had not started yet. Just the opposite of what I expected.
Thanks for all the input. Let’s say I brew tonight, pitch the starter and receive no fermentation activity within a reasonable time (24-48 hrs.). Could I pitch a second pack toward weeks end?
Based on your photo, I would be hesitant. Is tonight your only option for brewing? If you don’t have white sediment on the bottom, you have had little to no yeast activity. Did you get the yeast mail order? How long ago? During the hot spell? Did it smell foul or normal? Based on the appearance, you have have very little active yeast. But even if you have a little healthy yeast, it should eventually start to be active. In that case you would need to step it up a few times to get enough.
If you can get more yeast and really need to brew soon, get two smack packs and skip the starter, depending on your OG. If you have time and patience, consider it a challenge to build these little guys back to life.
Understood! If there’s not change when I get home this afternoon, I’ll skip my brew plans. Thank you for the information.
Well, I must have done something right with the starter. I brewed last night and woke up to blitzkrieg! There’s more gas being expelled from my fermenter than from the campfire scene in Blazing Saddles! :cheers:
