I’m trying to make a yeast starter from my last batch’s yeast. I boiled some of the second runnings from my last batch and put it into a sanitized swing top bottle and sealed it. When I opened the bottle it was carbonated but didn’t smell all that bad(compared to the last time I tried this) I added that to my refrigerated yeast and now I can see that it is fermenting. Should I use this for the batch I’m making today? I’m concerned that the wort was carbonated.
I wouldn’t use it unless it was re-boiled. Carbonation means contamination.
You probably want to check the gravity too, it might not have any sugar left in it.
This was second runnings that weren’t boiled? They definitely need boiled before storage.
Did you see bubbles in the liquid? How did you notice it was carbonated? If you bottled it warm and opened it cool, the air noise you heard was probably a vacuum and not pressure.
Related question…
I took some leftover runnings from a brew on Friday night and put them in sanitized Mason jars and stuck them in the freezer. Would I be able to thaw them out and make starters with them in the future or is that not a good idea?
[quote=“mtodd”]Related question…
I took some leftover runnings from a brew on Friday night and put them in sanitized Mason jars and stuck them in the freezer. Would I be able to thaw them out and make starters with them in the future or is that not a good idea?[/quote]
You will have to boil it before pitching your yeast into it. I pressure can mine between 15-20 pounds for 15-20 minutes and that way I do not need to boil my wort when making my starters.
Per that FDA food safety guide, wort isn’t acidic enough for “boil” canning like tomatoes are. It needs to be pressure canned. So if you boiled it and stored in the refrigerator it will spoil like anything else.
Freezing: there are some bacteria that are not killed at freezing temperatures. But their growth is severely limited at that temperature. Many of us have frozen wort for use later as a starter. Just boil it again.
I try to always collect some of my runnings for starter use. I let it cool, then immediately freeze it. Then, when ready for a starter, I remove, thaw, boil, check SG, then cool and pitch.
works well and obviously cheaper than dme.
:cheers:
I took second runnings and put them into mason jars and then hot-water processed them, just like I would pickles or sauerkraut. I’d be afraid that mason jars would explode in the freezer. I haven’t made a starter with the “canned” wort yet but I think I’ll boil it anyway before I do.
+1. I boil it down to ~1.035 SG at the end of the brew day (since I have a dirty kettle anyway), then pour it into a milk jug while it’s still at pasteurization temperature and freeze it. I don’t worry about re-boiling since it’s been pasteurized. I’m guessing I could even store it above freezing but I’m not brave enough to try.
[quote=“Nighthawk”]Per that FDA food safety guide, wort isn’t acidic enough for “boil” canning like tomatoes are. It needs to be pressure canned. So if you boiled it and stored in the refrigerator it will spoil like anything else.
Freezing: there are some bacteria that are not killed at freezing temperatures. But their growth is severely limited at that temperature. Many of us have frozen wort for use later as a starter. Just boil it again.[/quote]
http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/yf/foods/fn173.pdf[quote]The method used for canning a product is
determined primarily by the acidity of the food or
mixture of foods being canned. Low-acid foods
must be processed in a pressure canner to be free of
botulism risks.[/quote]
The way I look at it is that one of the few things that will survive boiling at sea level pressures are the spores that cause botulism and the medium you’re attempting to preserve is an ideal food source in which you’ve just eliminated the competition. Since it takes somewhere around a couple parts per billion of botulism to kill a human being, I figure the $75-100 pressure canner is worth it.
I figure that logic also applies to the beer. If there are botulinum spores (already long odds), they’ll need time to generate viable cells, which will in turn need time to reproduce. As long as the beer gets to >0.5% ABV before that happens, you’ll be fine.
If pasteurization wasn’t effective at keeping Clostridium under control, we’d all be dead by now.
