all-grain yeast starter

[travishall1987]

I had to make a starter from grain last night because no one around here sells DME. My question is this, after making the starter I put it straight into a growler, put an airlock on it and stuck it in the fridge. I checked the gravity this morning and it looks to be good, around 1.030, but I'm worried that putting the growler in the fridge instead of straight into an ice bath was a bad move. I did wait until it was warmed back up to around room temp before pitching my wyeast. Can anyone shed some light on this situation? This is for my second batch and its my first time doing a starter...

[brewinhard]

Two questions for you:

1. You boiled the wort right?

2. Did you properly sanitize your growler and transfer equipment?

If so, then slowly chilling it will not be a big deal for a yeast starter. 1.030 sounds okay for a starter to take off in and you are really not concerned about the flavor of the starter wort (ie dms issues from slow cooling). Just be sure to let your wort warm up before adding your yeast, then aerate well either by shaking intermittently or on a stir plate. When the starter is complete, cold crash it for 24-48 hrs to drop out the yeast. On brewday, decant the spent wort making sure to sanitize the mouth of the opening first, then pitch only the yeast slurry at the bottom.

[travishall1987]

Thanks for the reply!

Yes I boiled the wort and sanitized everything thoroughly with star san. I brought it up to room temp before pitching the yeast.

It has now been several hours and I haven't seen any activity in the growler. Is that normal? I have noticed some sediment forming at the bottom. I shook it vigorously after i pitched the yeast but left for quite awhile. I have been shaking it about once an hour since I got home a few hours ago. When i shake it a little bit of head forms but it quickly dissipates.

**One potential problem, my wyeast smack pack (trappist yeast) never fully activated though i smacked it quite a few times and waited a while for it to go.

[spiderwrangler]

never fully activated though i smacked it quite a few times and waited a while for it to go.

We've all been there brother, nothing to be ashamed of.

Even if the wyeast pack didn't swell, you likely still had some good yeast in there, but may have had reduced viability of the pack itself, and it may take a bit for your starter to catch up and show activity. Are you using an airlock or keeping it 'open' to the air by covering with foil?

[travishall1987]

I've got an air-lock on the growler and I noticed this morning that a small krauzen has formed and there was some slight bubbling going on in the air lock. Maybe I got a little impatient. The starter looks like its doing well now and i think I'll go ahead with my brewing tonight.

[spiderwrangler]

I keep my starters foil covered (also doing mine on stirplate) to allow O2 uptake for sterol production, but sounds like you are pitching active vs crashing and decanting, so airlock is good.

[travishall1987]

So i just checked the gravity on the starter. Its at 1020, down from 1030. Does this mean I'm good to go?

[mordantly]

the foam stoppers are my favorite for flasks... boil with it on, chill, and pitch!