Does this starter look OK?

[SMOKEU]

This is my first time ever making a starter. I re-cultured yeast from Coopers bottles with 700mL water, 70G DME, then I stepped it up by double after 18 hours for a total of 1.5L or so. It has been sitting in the fridge for 12 hours when these pics were taken. I have not decanted off any of the "beer" off the top.

Yesterday when I put a lid on the bottle and shook it, there was so much foam coming out it was hard to open the lid without it gushing out so there was some activity happening there.

There just doesn't appear to be much yeast.

 

[BrewingAroundtheRrealm]

What you have described is normal. You may have to make several step up starters to get enough to brew with.

Some notes:

12 hours is not enough time for the yeast to fully settle out of a starter. The amount of time is going to depend on the yeast. It does go faster if you have it in the refrigerator.

Shaking a starter is going to have the results you described. There is a lot of CO2 in there. Some starters foam more than others.

Here is my process when culturing yeast from commercial bottles it's best to start with a weak starter. 25g of DME with 500ml of water. 24 hours after you see activity add 100g of DME with 1l of water. Let that ferment out completely. Chill till clear and then decant. Then start again with a full starter. This is going to depend on what you are brewing. I usually do about 2.5 liters so that I can save off some of the yeast for the next batch.

When creating a starter I use 10g DME per 100ml of water. Boil for 10 minutes then chill down to pitching temp. Make sure everything is sanitized as well.

Good luck. Feel free to ask questions.

 

[SMOKEU]

I'm just not sure how much yeast should be in the starter bottle before I know it's enough. I'm currently mashing the wort for a 1.040 OG beer. Not sure if I should try with this yeast or just go buy a packet of US-05.

 

[BrewingAroundtheRrealm]

If you are planning to pitch that today in to a brew, you do not have enough. Definitely go get some US-05.

Try this starter calculator: Yeast Pitch Rate and Starter Calculator - Brewer's Friend That should get you headed in the right direction. You probably have enough right now to create your starter to pitch with.

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, I ranch a few strains doing over-built starters, and from experience if I have 50ml of solid clean white yeast in a pint jar after it's had a few days to compact that's enough for a 5 gallon batch of up to 1.065 beer.

Looking at that bottle I would say one more big step would get you there...

Cheers!

 

[SMOKEU]

Thanks so much for the advice! You've saved me from wasting a batch. I'll keep mashing, but I'll go to the brew shop now and buy some Cascade and US-05 to turn it into a pale ale.

I will leave the starter in the fridge for a few more hours, then decant the yeast and add more wort. BTW, is this dark stuff in the bottom OK? It looks like dead yeast. It was there very early on even during active fermentation.

 

[BrewingAroundtheRrealm]

Thanks so much for the advice! You've saved me from wasting a batch. I'll keep mashing, but I'll go to the brew shop now and buy some Cascade and US-05 to turn it into a pale ale.

I will leave the starter in the fridge for a few more hours, then decant the yeast and add more wort. BTW, is this dark stuff in the bottom OK? It looks like dead yeast. It was there very early on even during active fermentation.

Yes, that is normal.

 

[SMOKEU]

Yes, that is normal.

Sweet!

Just got a 100g pack of NZ Cascade (Taiheke) so I'll do a single hop pale ale instead and build up the Coopers yeast to brew in a few days. I'll make sure to use yeast nutrient as I have been doing.

I also pushed my luck a lot from the start - I realize this now. What I mean is that I made too big a starter too soon (700mL from 8 bottles initially). Will this have a negative effect on the yeast "quality" once I've built up a healthy yeast quantity?

 

[day_trippr]

I was going to mention that was pretty aggressive - the few times I've grown bottle dregs I started with 50 to 100ml of 1.010 wort (depending on how many bottles used) for the first round.

Still, from all appearances you have a substantial amount of yeast there and it looks good enough to use aside from volume. I'd be inclined to roll along and not worry about anything at this point

Cheers!

 

[SMOKEU]

I tried adding more wort again and there wasn't much more yeast than last time but there was a lot of dead yeast. I threw out the starter. It wasn't actually green at all, the camera just made it look that way.

 

[BrewingAroundtheRrealm]

That first photo looks bad. Is that green or just a reflection? At this point I would probably dump that and start over.

 

[day_trippr]

[...]
I threw out the starter.
It wasn't actually green at all, the camera just made it look that way.