Did I mess up my starter?

[the_trout]

Hey guys & galls, here's my situation...

I made my first yeast starter Friday afternoon from Wyeast 1272. The yeast from the smackpack was viable, I had a good swell on the pack after about 4 hours. I follow the directions from Northern Brewer that called for 1300ml of water and 1.5 cups of DME for my Black IPA with an OG of 1.075. Besides a small boilover when I added my DME all went fine. I've swirled the yeast every couple hours or so. When I swirl it up, I get a nice CO2 release from the wort. What concerns me is that I didn't get any type of krausen at all. Is this normal? Do you think I'll be ok to pitch this into my brew or should I just run out to the LHBS and grab a couple new packets? I'm planning on brewing this afternoon.

 

[Double_D]

Krausen isn't always visible during starter fermentation. It never really has time to build up the convection of Co2 and floculate like your wort does.

 

[JaimeTheLimey]

I'd say your good to go.

 

[the_trout]

Thanks for the repies guys. Im getting ready to pitch it in a few minutes. Confidence is high.

 

[copenrc]

Same thing has happened to me, all you see are little bubbles. Pitch it and watch it work. Its sound like a good starter to me

 

[the_trout]

I went ahead with this yesterday and she's working like a champ this morning. Thanks for the advice.

 

[samc]

Good to hear that it worked for you. However I am a bit confused by Northern Brewers Starter directions. For the future you might want to look at Wyeast, White Labs or other sources for quantities. Usual spec is 10 x 1 ratio of water to DME.

Starter Recipe (Wyeast):
The optimal media for cell growth and health require using a malt based media (DME) fortified with nutrients. Gravity should be kept near 1.040 and cultures should be grown at 70°F.

Recipe
0.5 cup DME (100g, 3.5oz)
½ tsp Wyeast Nutrient
1qt.(1L) H2O

 

[the_trout]

Yeah, as I looked around some places NBs directions didn't seem to be the norm. Being this was my first go round with a starter I thought it best to follow the instructions I was given but going forward I'm inclined to use some of the other resources available.