Starter didn't start

[BroStefan]

This is a new on for me. Made up 1.5 liter starter yesterday afternoon, pitched two Wyeast S German lager yeast and put it on the stir plate.

This morning, 18 hours later, nothing. The starter is cloudy but no sign of activity. No sediment and the SG is at 1.038.

Any ideas about what might be going on here?


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[Hello]

That's very odd. If you added DME and water, then yeast then there's no reason it shouldn't ferment. What temp did you pitch at?

 

[BroStefan]

~ 72 f


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[Hello]

Boy that's confusing. I hope someone just knows because clearly I don't.

 

[flars]

What was the production date of the yeast? Had it been baked in shipping or mishandled some other way to reduce the viability?

If not it may just be a slow starter.

 

[BroStefan]

The manufacture date was in early June.

And it was Bohemian lager not S German.

I've brewed this beer - a Munich Helles - before with dry yeast so if I can pick some up when the LHBS opens I can still brew today. In just going to let the starter alone to see if it is just a really slooooow yeast.


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[BroStefan]

As for mishandling I picked it up at the Northern Brewer store in Milwaukee on Saturday and drove it home to central Minnesota a small cooler with ice packs. So it was ~ 6 hours in the car, but cool the whole way.


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[BroStefan]

Update:

At the 20 hour mark I took the flask off the stir plate and cold crashed it. There was a small amount of sediment on the bottom. It didn't look exactly like yeast but I made up more starter wort, decanted the flask and put it on the stir plate. It took another day but at last I was getting a health fermentation.

Here is my theory. The yeast was a little on the old side and may have been damaged in some other way. While I use carbon filtered for brewing I didn't for the starter. Never had any problem up to now, but what if the chlorine level was higher the normal.

That could all add up to what happened. I've got a call in to the water department to ask about the chlorine conjecture.

My LHBS had had dry yeast so I pitched this morning. I may add the starter, too if fermentation doesn't start promptly.


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