Yeast Starter

Yeast & Fermentation
1

So I grew a yeast starter from a Wyeast smack pack. It was a 1L starter and I let it grow (no stir plate) for about 36 hours (36 hours after “smacking”) and then put it in the fridge to crash and settle to the bottom so I can decant and then pitch.

I was expecting the yeast to settle out overnight and leave me with a nice layer at the bottom and a clear broth to decant, but after 3 days in the fridge I still have a pretty cloudy suspension (some have settled to the bottom) with minimal active bubbling still occurring.

How long do I have to wait to decant? I’d like to get as many of the yeast out of suspension as possible. And when I do finally brew, I’m planning to resuspend the room temperature yeast layer in a couple hundred mLs of my 70F wort…does that sound about right?

2

It sounds like it wasn’t finished fermenting when you refrigerated it. Even on a stir plate, I’ve had starters take well over 36 hours.

I wouldn’t decant, just pull it from the fridge on brewday and feed it some fresh wort. If you pour off what’s still in suspension you risk losing the healthiest cells.

3

I agree it may not have been done fermenting but instead of adding more wort just cold pitch it into your carboy right from the fridg. I’ve been doing that for years with excellent results.

4

Yes that might be the reason of cloudy suspension and to settle it down as chuck has suggested corboy will be the best for cold pitching.

5

Thanks, everyone, for your replies.

In general how do you usually know when a yeast starter is “done” and could be put in the fridge to settle out?

6

[quote]In general how do you usually know when a yeast starter is “done” and could be put in the fridge to settle out?[/quote]You could take a gravity reading (as long as you got an OG) or you can just leave it 4 days to be totally sure.