So today I brewed the coopers Irish stout :), I used 1.5kg of dark LME and 200g of treacle. I learned that treacle is a VERY thick substance :-[, next time boil it.
This was also my first time using a white labs vial of WLP004 Irish Ale yeast. When I shook the yeast to 'wake them up' I didnt expect the vial when opened to overflow onto my hand ;D, so I got as much yeast in as possible, pitched at 23c, now down to 22c after 6 hours no Krausen just yet but it is still very early. Im hoping to wake up to a nice big foamer ;D. The OG was 1.044, I thought it would be slightly more but oh well, Im happy with how the brewday went and hopefully a nice stout in a few weeks.
I spilt some the first time as well :(
They do give better results but you really need a starter for liquid yeasts, keep and an eye on it over next 24 and either have a second vial to chuck in or a packet of dry.
Ye I went a bit shop crazy on yeasts this week so I have danstar nottingham, US05, and the cooepers dry yeast, did you first one take off for you?
I reckoned I lost about 20% down the sink :-( but as I was putting it into a starter it just took an extra day to get where I wanted.
What was the BB date on the vial?
BTW you don't need a stir plate for a starter.
Give it a day and look out for sign of life, then pitch one of your others. 05 would work, 04 would be better.
I always have dry back-ups and store them in the fridge and they last years
The best before was 9th of May 2013 ye it fizzed up over the fermenter so I didnt really lose that much just what ever was left on my hand. I have been looking at starters online a fair bit. If im doing a big beer I definitely plan on doing a starter
QuoteThe best before was 9th of May 2013 ye it fizzed up over the fermenter so I didnt really lose that much just what ever was left on my hand. I have been looking at starters online a fair bit. If im doing a big beer I definitely plan on doing a starter
Very fresh yeast so good chance it will kick off.
Not just big beers you will have read that starters ensure a solid start to your fermentation and minimise potential off flavours
Should also remind everybody to sterilise around the lid of your vials before opening and pitching.
Ye im gunna start doing starters in the future and also will look into washing and reusing yeast
QuoteYe im gunna start doing starters in the future and also will look into washing and reusing yeast
Absolutely and Tube has a great wiki on washing yeast
http://www.nationalhomebrewclub.com/wiki/doku.php?id=washing_yeast
Some strains don't like to be over used. I read somewhere about 4-5 passes, Tube would probably disagree with me but hes's a tight arse ;) only joking Mr. T.
I don't do a lot of it myself but have some wlp830 sitting in the bottom of my fridge for a couple of months now and will have a go with it next month in time for summer.
QuoteWLP004 is Guinness yeast. It's very smooth.
Ye I heard that its Guinness yeast. I will be very interested to see how it turns out and how different it will be to a pint of Guinness ;D.
well I woke up today and there was a nice big Krausen going, so looks like we have lift off ;D
:) ;D
QuoteI will be very interested to see how it turns out and how different it will be to a pint of Guinness
Coopers say they designed t to be somewhere between guinness and murphy's.
I think it does just that.
Don't expect it to have a creamy guinness head though. It'll have a fast fading beige head regardless of fancy yeast.