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G'day all,
I've just put down a coopers dark ale and for the first time used the yeast from a coopers dark bottle. Problem was being impatient, the yeast wasn't all that vigorous when pitched. Now nearly 24hrs later my brew is fairly sluggish (bubbles every 40 secs). Question is should I let it pick up steam on its own or should I pitch some dry yeast? I'd like to keep the bottle yeast going but am a bit worried about infection.
I do have a good seal on my fermenter.
Tipsy

how's the krausen going tipsy? & what temp is it at?

Hi db,
There's a bit of scum on the surface and the temps at 22c

Leave it,

I think it will get going. There is a product out there that is called yeast energizer that will add the right neutrients to help the yeast go but I think this one will be OK

Dogger

I agree with Dogger.

& i think it should be firing away today?

Too right you guys are! This morning it was a little quicker and when I got home this evening it was chugging away beautifully. Next time though I'll get my starter off to a better start.
Cheers.

Tipsy wrote:Too right you guys are! This morning it was a little quicker and when I got home this evening it was chugging away beautifully. Next time though I'll get my starter off to a better start.
Cheers.

thats the way to do it tipsy. i believe the key is to culture up a large amount of viable yeast & pitch when the starter is at high krausen.. i don't really culture from commercial bottle's but if i was i'd start out with a smaller starter (around 300g), pitch the sediment from 1 or 2 bottle's, let that grow up for a few days & pitch that in a 1-2litre starter.. then pitch that into the brew after around 24-48hrs.
thats a pretty vague description i know i'd suggest you do a search - thehipone posted some excellent, in depth, instructions a few months ago

Thanks for the advice db.

So is it Ok to only pitch the commercial brew's yeast and get rid of the dehydrated yeast from the kit? This is after cultivating the yeast of course and not just pitching the last bit of the stubbie/longneck in.

Anyone tried this and had bad repercussions? Should you use two stubbies or a longneck instead?

Cheers,
Jay.

Jay wrote:So is it Ok to only pitch the commercial brew's yeast and get rid of the dehydrated yeast from the kit? This is after cultivating the yeast of course and not just pitching the last bit of the stubbie/longneck in.

yeah there's no need to pitch the dehydrated yeast as long as you get the cell count of you starter up high enough. i now make all my starters up to 1-1.5litres before pitching & have found the results to be much cleaner than smaller (6-750ml) starters.. i was actually reading somewhere the other day that some recommend up to 2L for ales & even bigger for lagers

yeah i once had to tip a 1/2 batch that i made with a coopers pale yeast.. i tasted the starter before pitching & noticed a slight phenolic tinge to it but didn't have any other yeast so i pitched it & hoped for the best.. the brew turned out undrinkable

db,

I suppose you just have to keep in mind that you have double the chances of getting an infection with what is essentially two fermentations.

Cheers,
Jay

the mighty sosman has a great page that takes you through various stages/degrees of difficulty in culturing yeast, as well as other HB stuff-http://brewiki.org/

Jay wrote:db,

I suppose you just have to keep in mind that you have double the chances of getting an infection with what is essentially two fermentations.

Cheers,
Jay

not really Jay. I firmly believe that all homebrew is infected (a consequence of us hber's only being able to sanitise & not sterilise) it's just the degree of infection that varies.. by stepping up (ie. using the smaller amount of wort & growing that up to the litre starter) you are actually giving the yeast a more favourable start.. if you think about the ratio's, pitching the same amount of yeast into a smaller wort is helping the yeast outnumber potential infections etc. (which can potentially reproduce faster than the yeast).. pitching the same amount of yeast into a smaller wort (ie starter) is to help the yeast outnumber the bacteria & hopefully restrict the bacteria's growth.. if that makes sense
it's one i find hard to explain... i wish i could find the artical i read that helped me get my head around it