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Problems with my Starter

tdibratt

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Jan 18, 2018
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Hi folks, going to brew a Milk Stout tomorrow.  I made a yeast starter with 200g of DME and 2 litres of water.  Boiled 15 mins.  Let it cool and pictched 2 x 1028 Wyeast Smack Packs.  They did swell too.  24 hours later and looks like no activity.  Should I not have a real active fermentation by now?
 

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The biggest indicator is the starter getting very milky. If you're using a stir plate, shut it off and you should see signs of settling within a few minutes. Fermentation is often finished in 24 hours.
 
Were they older smack packs?  If they are relatively fresh (less than 2 months old), you will not realize a lot of yeast growth with 2 packs in 2 liters of starter wort.  Also, your vortex looks pretty deep, so any signs of krausen would have been pulled back down and mixed into the slurry.  I'm with Bob357 on this one, turn you stir plate off for a bit and see how much settles.  If you still have active fermentation, you will start to see some signs of bubbles and krausen forming.  My guess is that with the initial amount of yeast cells you pitched, they will have pretty much chewed through the wort and be ready to settle out.

 
I pitched the starter and the next morning all is good.  Thanks for the advise!
 
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