Yeast Stuck on bottom of Starter Flask

[TheBroonery]

So I made a yeast starter Tuesday night, WLP060 (White Labs American Ale). Wednesday morning there were tiny CO2 bubbles and things looked good. I gave it a stir then as I had the night before. Gave it another stir that evening and everything moved around in the flask, as with the previous stirs.

This morning (Thursday) there was a nice head of krausen on the starter and a thicker yeast cake on the bottom, but no matter how much I shake it or stir it, that yeast cake on the bottom seems to be glued in place. As of now, Thursday afternoon, the krausen has settled, but the yeast cake is still solidified on the bottom of the flask.

I know that's the part I want to pitch, not the liquid. Any suggestions on how to loosen it in a sanitary manner? I'm planning on brewing Friday afternoon (tomorrow) Thanks!

 

[Clann]

Sanitize a long handle spoon and stir.

I don't think it will hurt to pitch the liquid too.

 

[Gropo]

Give it a "turbo-swirl" for a good 20 - 30 seconds...it'll break free. That sediment can be seemingly stuck, but I promise it'll start to break up with enough vigorous swirling.

 

[mcaple1]

Don't be afraid...yeast are very resilient...swirl the crap outta it!

 

[TheBroonery]

The turbo shake worked! Seemed to loosen it right up after 15 seconds or so. Thanks!

 

[Gropo]

The turbo shake worked! Seemed to loosen it right up after 15 seconds or so. Thanks!

Happy pitching!!!!

 

[AKnewbrews]

So say you dont want to pitch your full 1 liter starter into a nice crisp light beer. So you have to get the yeast cake off the bottom after decanting. What's a good way to do that?

 

[tesilential]

So say you dont want to pitch your full 1 liter starter into a nice crisp light beer. So you have to get the yeast cake off the bottom after decanting. What's a good way to do that?

.

Don't be afraid...yeast are very resilient...swirl the crap outta it!

 

[GuldTuborg]

So say you dont want to pitch your full 1 liter starter into a nice crisp light beer. So you have to get the yeast cake off the bottom after decanting. What's a good way to do that?

Just to clarify, first pour off maybe 90% of the beer, then...

swirl the crap outta it!

 

[AKnewbrews]

Thats what I figured. I thought maybe there was a good trick to doing it. I make my starters in growlers since they are easy to come by and I have more than enough of them. The brown ones are hard to see through though. Maybe I'll try my clear one instead.

 

[TheBroonery]

I started this one with 2 pints of water and 1 cup of DME. I thought 2 pints was equal to about 1 liter, but I guess due to the boil-off it came up to 600ml on the flask. I'm planning on pitching the whole thing to the batch this afternoon.

 

[Gropo]

Unless you refrigerate your starter flask for a day or so before decanting, you'd probably end up pouring a lot of suspended yeast down the drain. Personally, I wouldn't decant w/o the cold-crash step, so I think you're wise to pitch the entire starter.

 

[BrewThruYou]

So say you dont want to pitch your full 1 liter starter into a nice crisp light beer. So you have to get the yeast cake off the bottom after decanting. What's a good way to do that?

Personally, I would decant almost all the liquid and then

swirl the crap outta it!

 

[JLW]

Is there anything wrong with opning the spigot on the brew kettle and kind of washing the yeast cake out of the bottom of the start flask?

 

[kapbrew13]

Is there anything wrong with opning the spigot on the brew kettle and kind of washing the yeast cake out of the bottom of the start flask?

If that's the way you fill you fermenter. Why not?

 

[samc]

As long it is at pitching temps should be fine.

 

[JLW]

I cool to pitching temp. Then open the spigot a little to loosen the yeast cake, give it a swirl and dump. Then siphon the wort into the fermentor.

 

[TheBroonery]

Well the batch is now brewed in and in the fermenter, but temps are still hovering over 100 so I'm waiting until this evening to pitch the yeast. It's a version of Cherry Fever Stout from Charlie Papizan's The Joy of Homebrewing, using wild cherries from a tree in my backyard! Starting Gravity = 1.060

 

[rycov]

mmm. i've been wanting to try that

 

[TheBroonery]

Due to the complexity of this recipe with the addition of crushed cherries at the end, I skipped using the wort chiller and just mixed the hot wort with cold top off water in the fermenter.

Now 5 hours after the boil, the wort is still above 90 degrees!

Looks like I'll be waiting till morning to pitch this one...

 

[Gropo]

YIKES...not so sure about that decision. Git up off your arse, cool that wort, and pitch. Not the best idea to let a wort cool overnight w/o pitching your intended yeast. All kinds of hungry nasties are going to make their way towards your wort.

 

[midfielder5]

Juat cover it w/ a clean & sanitized pot lid that fits snug. It won't get infected. I do it every batch. Cheers.

 

[TheBroonery]

I woke up at 5:45 this morning and checked it. Still 79-80 degrees but I pitched the yeast. I'm thinking it should be fine because the wort was sealed in the fermenter, sans yeast for a little over 12 hours. Whenever I opened the lid I sprayed starsan on the bucket prior to opening and used hand sanitizer on my hands. The thermometer I was using to check it has it's probe sitting in a bucket of idophor solution when I wasn't using it.

The only concern is that the 5# of cherries did come from a tree outside, but I only picked healthy looking ones, they were (rinsed) cleaned after picking, frozen for a week, thawed, then steeped in the wort at 190 degrees for 20 minutes. That heat should have killed off any nasties.

The room temperature in my basement fermentation room is 73 this morning, which sort of explains why it took 12+ hours for 5 gallons of wort to get from 110 to 80. Next time I do this recipe (if there's a good harvest of cherries next year) I might go ahead and use the chiller anyways.

 

[TheBroonery]

4 hours after pitching the yeast, and things are looking good! The airlock appears to be building pressure and there is a tiny layer of krausen forming!