Sunday 19 May 2013

Yeast Starter Update

Well it has been a few days now and things have taken a little longer than expected.
The small amount of yeast I first added to the starter was 3 months old and a little less viable than I expected. The temperature has also been very low which will limit the speed of fermentation.

As I explained in the original post you need to feed your starter each day. I did feed my starter after 24 hours however after 48 hours I could not see any visible signs of activity. The signs I was looking for were as I swirl the container adding more oxygen usually at this point there is carbon dioxide expelled causing foaming. As there was no activity I skipped the 48 hour addition and moved the container to a warmer area in the house.

At the 72 hours mark there were now signs of activity so I made up the next addition consisting of 200g of light dry malt extract with 2L of water. Over the next 24 hours I continued to swirl the container every few hours or as I remember. There was now lots of activity each time I swirled and the yeast was very active.




It was now 96 hours from my initial inoculation and there was 4L of wort in the starter actively fermenting. Time to put the starter into the fridge this will slow down the activity and help drop the yeast out of solution to gather them at the bottom of the vessel.




When the starter is to be used used remove from the fridge and decant the liquid from the top of the yeast portion. Allow the yeast to warm to ferment temp and then it is ready to add to your brew.

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