I think I killed my yeast starter

[jdriver84]

I mad eup a batch of yest starter last night to add to my lemonade to start a batch of skeeter pee. At 4 hours the starter was bubbling slightly starting to take on a bit of a foam. I figured I would leave it out overnight, and add it this morning the the must, which would have been 48 hours after mixing it up. This morning the starter is flat, no foam, no bubbling. Is it dead? I rehydrated the yeast in some 100 degree water, then added a quarter cup of my juice at half an hour. 4 hours all looked off to a decent start, then this morning nothing.

Should I give it another chance? I ran downtown just now and grabbed some white grape juice ad another packet of yeast to try and make a starter that way instead

 

[Wade E]

It probably ate all the sugar!! Add something like OJ or grape juice to it and see if it takes right off again. Ive seen a 1 gallon batch of wine with a starting sg of around 1.090 ferment dry overnight!!

 

[jdriver84]

I added 3/4 cup of white grape juice to yesterday's starter. If it decides to take off again, I'll save my other starter, and get another batch of lime skeeter going with it.

 

[robie]

You woke 'em up, then starved 'em to death!

If they don't come back pretty quickly, you are just going to have to start over. I'll bet a few of them are still alive and will live on. Still, I would start over with a fresh batch of yeast.

Once those guys get started eating, they start multiplying rapidly and they have to be fed continuously.

Had you put in maybe, as an example, a gallon of reconstituted grape juice from concentrate, they might have made it until morning. That would have been too much volume of "other" juice to add to your wine must, though.

What I do is make a starter and add it to the must within about an hour, no more than two hours.

It's a learning process for sure!!! Bet you are not the first to make that mistake, either.

 

[jdriver84]

I have a second healthy starter on the go right now, though my initial batch looks as though it's making a slow recovery. I have another emty 3 gallon carboy though,and picked up everything I need to whip up abatch of lime skeeter too. If the first batch starts looking like it's going to take off I will get moving on a batch of lime juice asap. These recipes are incredibly cheap, so I'm willing to fool around a little on them to get things straight. It's not like killing off a couple $.89 packs of yeast is going to break the bank, and the only way to learn is to screw up a few times. I already learned my lessons on my first batch of wine. Shot for a 3.5 gallonbatch to fill my 3 gallon carboy this time. Wound up doing all kinds of topping off on my last carboy of dandelion!

 

[Wade E]

Just running out of sugar will nit kill it unkless you starve it for months and even then it will usually pick right back up. As far as the pee wines go a starter is better then sprinkling yeast on it but youd be much better off using a yeast slurry as this is yeast thats seen alot of work and is acclimated to lots of stuff a fresh yeast like this is not and this is the stuff thats stresses yeasts.

 

[jdriver84]

I don't have a slurry to use right now, so I decided to go with a starter instead. Seems somepeople have had luck with it, but I am expected a slow start once the yeast is into the primary with my juice. My intiial batch from yesterday has taken right off again.

 

[North_Ga_Jug-Or-Not]

When I do my starters, I use 75-80 degree F water not that hot. Put it in a Quart mason jar about a third full. Add yeast packet to the water and let sit 10-15 minutes. Then take some of your must and add it a cup at a time every 30 minutes until its close to full. If everything looks good and the yeast has acclimated well, I pour it into the must. No need to stir, just gently pour in and let it sit. Should have a decent colony started by the next morning and see it working off pretty well. By then end of the next day you should have a pretty good ferment going. Then just stir gently twice daily as per usual.

 

[robie]

I have a second healthy starter on the go right now, though my initial batch looks as though it's making a slow recovery. I have another emty 3 gallon carboy though,and picked up everything I need to whip up abatch of lime skeeter too. If the first batch starts looking like it's going to take off I will get moving on a batch of lime juice asap. These recipes are incredibly cheap, so I'm willing to fool around a little on them to get things straight. It's not like killing off a couple $.89 packs of yeast is going to break the bank, and the only way to learn is to screw up a few times. I already learned my lessons on my first batch of wine. Shot for a 3.5 gallonbatch to fill my 3 gallon carboy this time. Wound up doing all kinds of topping off on my last carboy of dandelion!

When yeast have been severely stressed from lack of nourishment, they produce an enzyme that starts breaking down the cellular walls of the already dead yeast. This way the ones left alive can live off the dead ones. Survival of the species!!!

This can result in a taste that can be good for some white wines, but an off-flavor for most reds. I can't say what it would do for a S.P.

It may not be a problem, but I would have to question whether or not it is worth trying to salvage something that costs about a buck 50.

Just something to think about.

 

[jdriver84]

Well, I just added the starter to both my Lemon and Lime batches last night right around midnight. It's about 9:30 the next morning right now and the Lemon is already bubbling nicely in the primary, and the Lime, well the Lime is a forthy fermenting machine already. It's bubbling like crazy right now! I was expecting a slow start to the fermentation from what I had read, and wasn't expecting much to happen for a few days, but I suspect both will be fermenting nicely by this evening. It took off way faster than my dandelion did. I'll check the S.G. on both after supper tonight and see what kind of progress they are making, but I'm pleasantly surprised with what I woke up to today!

 

[robie]

Sounds like all is fine.