Does this starter look ok?

[SouthBayBrewer31]

It’s been about 20 hours and this doesn’t look active to me. Is this normal? It has a ring of tiny bubbles around the edge but that’s it.

 

[mongoose33]

Did you use Fermcap-S when you boiled it? I do, and my starters often look like that--just a small ring of foam/bubbles around the edge, maybe some bubbles in the vortex.

I usually notice that there's a change in color as it proceeds, often lightening in color, occasionally ending up looking a bit like a creamsicle in color.

 

[IslandLizard]

As @mongoose33 said, the starter looks OK, but I don't see a lot of yeast yet.

Was that an old pack perhaps? Starters with old yeast are usually quite darkish brown in the beginning. Then once the cell count increases it starts to turn much lighter, usually after 2-3 days, then it becomes very milky quickly with a layer of yeast accumulating on the bottom. Sometimes it takes a week, depending how old/bad it was.

You shouldn't see much activity, the stirring keeps that well down. Sometimes you suddenly see a 1-2" krausen develop, that then dissipates over a few hours.

 

[SouthBayBrewer31]

The yeast pack says 9/24/18 so I know it’s still good. No I didn’t use fermcap. It’s 1500 ml OG 1.034, and pitched at 75 degrees. I shined a flashlight on it and I can see a little bit of bubbles and what looks like a milky consistency. Hopefully there will be visible yeast by tomorrow. I planned to cold crash tomorrow night and brew on Wednesday. I figured 48 hours on the stirplate would be plenty of time.

 

[IslandLizard]

The yeast pack says 9/24/18 so I know it’s still good. No I didn’t use fermcap. It’s 1500 ml OG 1.034, and pitched at 75 degrees. I shined a flashlight on it and I can see a little bit of bubbles and what looks like a milky consistency. Hopefully there will be visible yeast by tomorrow. I planned to cold crash tomorrow night and brew on Wednesday. I figured 48 hours on the stirplate would be plenty of time.

Not old, indeed. Age isn't everything, maybe it got overheated, frozen, stored unchilled or otherwise mistreated along it's life. That's why you should always make starters with liquid yeast to prove viability, increase it, as well as cell count.

Normally, yes, 48 hours on a stir plate should be sufficient.

If you turn the plate off for 15 minutes you should see at least a 1/8-1/4" of yeast settling on the bottom. That would be a good sign.
I'd let this go until you're ready to pitch and pitch the whole starter. No cold crashing!
You could save 50-100 ml out to make a new starter from (yeast ranching).

Do you have a refractometer to take a drop out for a gravity reading?

BTW, what yeast strain is this?

 

[SouthBayBrewer31]

Not old, indeed. Age isn't everything, maybe it got overheated, frozen, stored unchilled or otherwise mistreated along it's life. That's why you should always make starters with liquid yeast to prove viability, increase it, as well as cell count.

Normally, yes, 48 hours on a stir plate should be sufficient.

If you turn the plate off for 15 minutes you should see at least a 1/8-1/4" of yeast settling on the bottom. That would be a good sign.
I'd let this go until you're ready to pitch and pitch the whole starter. No cold crashing!
You could save 50-100 ml out to make a new starter from (yeast ranching).

Do you have a refractometer to take a drop out for a gravity reading?

BTW, what yeast strain is this?

Thanks for the reply IslandLizard. When I get home I’ll turn it off for 15 minutes. I do have a refractometer so I’ll do that tonight. I know that refractometers give inaccurate readings on fermented wort so I’ll have to find the formula to figure that out. I took the foil off for a second to give it a smell and it’s definitely fermenting so that makes me feel better. Also, I moved it into my kitchen where the midday temps should be in the low 80’s today. Hopefully that helps. I need to go to the LHBS the day before brewing and I thought maybe I should pick up another pack of yeast for good measure. Do you think that would be overpitching? I’ve never pitched a whole starter before. But if you say it’s ok then I’ll trust you lol.

 

[SouthBayBrewer31]

It’s good old WLP001