Did I cold crash too quickly?
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48 hours is plenty and then some for a starter. You want to cold crash it while it's at the height of activity. A little activity at the start of crashing is good.
brrman
Well-Known Member
I am not sure what you think the problem is? What is it that you think cold crashing too quickly will do?
EDIT - Oh I am an idiot. you mean did you stop fermenting the starter too quickly. LOL!
I think you are good - it was just residual yeast action as you crashed.
EDIT - Oh I am an idiot. you mean did you stop fermenting the starter too quickly. LOL!
I think you are good - it was just residual yeast action as you crashed.
I had the same confusion when I read the title of the post and thought - there's no such thing as cold crashing too quickly in my book.
brrman
Well-Known Member
When I crash it I just throw it in the fridge overnight and then decant off then next afternoon. So yeah I think your good, man.
MindenMan
Well-Known Member
IIWM, I would check the gravity of your starter wort, if it is above 1.015 it hasn't used up all the available sugar yet.
Did you have an airlock in the starter or was it on a stir plate? Looks like CO2 is coming out of solution.
Do you usually just sterilize and drop in the hydrometer to measure the gravity in the erlenmeyer? Its a little small to take a sample from...
I only had aluminum foil over the erlenmeyer, and it was on a stirplate.
I just decanted the wort and checked the gravity as well, it was at around 1.096, so I guess it wasn't all fermented yet, but anyhow I am making a second starter tonight and I'll leave it a little longer if it seems to be behaving the same.
I just tasted the yeast starter work...tastes pretty good actually! Surprisingly very sweet.
Sounds like you've already got your question answered, so I'll make an off-topic observation. LOL
What kind of lever espresso machine is that in the background? I use a La Spaziale w/ rotary pump, but I've always found the levers sexy.
What kind of lever espresso machine is that in the background? I use a La Spaziale w/ rotary pump, but I've always found the levers sexy.
MindenMan
Well-Known Member
If I read it correctly, you said the gravity of the starter wort was 1.096.
Well there's your problem (maybe)... there are a lot of yeasts that don't want to aggressively multiply in a wort that sweet. I am willing to bet if you decant the yeast from the flask in the picture, into a 1.040-1.060 gravity starter instead, they will be crawling out the top of the flask very soon.
Well there's your problem (maybe)... there are a lot of yeasts that don't want to aggressively multiply in a wort that sweet. I am willing to bet if you decant the yeast from the flask in the picture, into a 1.040-1.060 gravity starter instead, they will be crawling out the top of the flask very soon.
Yeah I tried to use slightly less malt extract for this time around. LME is all the local home brew store had, and from what I found online, it was recommended to use about 1 cup of DME for 1L of water, and that the ratio for DME/LME was 1/1.125. II used just around 1 1/4 cup of LME (which is a little more than the ratio) so I guess that was too much.
I used about 200ml this time around, in 750ml of water (I only have a 1L flask and it was overflowing last time).
Hopefully it works out...
That being said I also need to calibrate my hydrometer. I just used the preset adjustments on an online calculator, it was reading about 1.096 at 40F (which actually the calculator tells me ends up being around 1.095)
Haha very good eye! Its my precious! My very, very previous Elektra. I had a Rancilio Silvia previously but found this beauty locally for a steal.
Its about 25-30 years old. An Elektra "Ovale" (one of the names it goes by). She puts a smile on my face every morning
I'm now realizing the 1.096 I got was way over the 1.040 gravity recommended for my brew... I've added a bit of water to my starter, close to 250ml, so that would make it 200ml of LME for 1L of water. Hopefully that brings gives me a lower gravity...
Does anyone measure the gravity of the starter before adding it to the yeast?
Does anyone measure the gravity of the starter before adding it to the yeast?
Haha very good eye! Its my precious! My very, very previous Elektra. I had a Rancilio Silvia previously but found this beauty locally for a steal.
Its about 25-30 years old. An Elektra "Ovale" (one of the names it goes by). She puts a smile on my face every morning
Yep, that there is sexy! Very nice.
PlexVector
Mellow Goose Brewing
Haha very good eye! Its my precious! My very, very previous Elektra. I had a Rancilio Silvia previously but found this beauty locally for a steal.
Its about 25-30 years old. An Elektra "Ovale" (one of the names it goes by). She puts a smile on my face every morning
Very nice!
So, I got a real volcano on my hands this morning. I had shut the stirplate for the night because it was noisy but put it when I got up: https://youtu.be/1VUYug8BBFM
So, it seems like the fermentation is pretty much done now. I'm scared I stressed the yeast too much with those two very high gravity starter (I don't know how high the second one but I'll measure it when I decant). Would it be safer to buy one more pack of White Labs liquid yeast to throw in just for insurance? I'll be getting my grain Saturday morning just before I start brewing, I could get a pack at the same time.
I am making this beer:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=112957
So, it seems like the fermentation is pretty much done now. I'm scared I stressed the yeast too much with those two very high gravity starter (I don't know how high the second one but I'll measure it when I decant). Would it be safer to buy one more pack of White Labs liquid yeast to throw in just for insurance? I'll be getting my grain Saturday morning just before I start brewing, I could get a pack at the same time.
I am making this beer:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=112957
So, I got a real volcano on my hands this morning. I had shut the stirplate for the night because it was noisy but put it when I got up: https://youtu.be/1VUYug8BBFM
So, it seems like the fermentation is pretty much done now. I'm scared I stressed the yeast too much with those two very high gravity starter (I don't know how high the second one but I'll measure it when I decant). Would it be safer to buy one more pack of White Labs liquid yeast to throw in just for insurance? I'll be getting my grain Saturday morning just before I start brewing, I could get a pack at the same time.
I am making this beer:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=112957
So, it seems like the fermentation is pretty much done now. I'm scared I stressed the yeast too much with those two very high gravity starter (I don't know how high the second one but I'll measure it when I decant). Would it be safer to buy one more pack of White Labs liquid yeast to throw in just for insurance? I'll be getting my grain Saturday morning just before I start brewing, I could get a pack at the same time.
I am making this beer:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=112957
MindenMan
Well-Known Member
It appears your starter was happy, happy enough to blow out of the flask...
"Technically", yeast doesn't get stressed out in a starter, especially one with a gravity as high as yours was/is. By the way, "generally" speaking 1/2 measuring cup of DME into 1 quart of water or so is a good place for a starter to begin.
Yeast gets stressed when there is a small cell count into a large volume of high O.G. wort; one package to a 5+ gallon batch. From what I see you should be good to go this weekend. PLEASE do not pitch your yeast into a wort that is warmer than 65* F; a little cooler than 65* F is no big deal, the yeast will warm it up when full fermentation starts. I always pitch cool and let the wort warm itself up to the temperature I have set in my fermentation box.
"Technically", yeast doesn't get stressed out in a starter, especially one with a gravity as high as yours was/is. By the way, "generally" speaking 1/2 measuring cup of DME into 1 quart of water or so is a good place for a starter to begin.
Yeast gets stressed when there is a small cell count into a large volume of high O.G. wort; one package to a 5+ gallon batch. From what I see you should be good to go this weekend. PLEASE do not pitch your yeast into a wort that is warmer than 65* F; a little cooler than 65* F is no big deal, the yeast will warm it up when full fermentation starts. I always pitch cool and let the wort warm itself up to the temperature I have set in my fermentation box.
Thank you for the info, I'll make sure that the wort is properly cooled down before pitching!
I had read about 1/2 cup of DME for 1 quart, but I just made a big mistake when translating DME to LME by assuming I could measure by volume for LME the same way as DME.
The yeast starter this time doesn't smell as sweet or as good as the first step one, but it doesn't smell bad either, just less sweet (I'm guessing the sweetness was converted to sugar). I'll have a taste tomorrow.
I'll update on brew day (or before if I have more questions!)!
Get a scale and measure by weight!!! Much easier and more accurate!
Yeah...I'm getting one today!
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