Ross's $1 Belgian Yeast

[aurelius121ad]

I have never used anything besides the coopers kit yeast which everyone says is "voracious" and just tears through the wort so maybe that is the difference I am seeing.

I whipped up a yeast starter from a 6g packet of Ross's $1 Belgian yeast on Tuesday. Boiled 150-200g of LLME in the microwave and ended up with 500ml total liquid for the starter. I tossed in a bit of bread yeast as I got it out of the microwave to act as "nutrient." Then aerated it by whipping it with a spoon and pitched the yeast when it was around 30*C.I didnt see much activity by the next evening so I threw in some cooled sugar water just to be sure (I havnt used the malt extract before and thought I could have been sold the wrong thing).

By Thursday morn still the same, no krausen, most of the yeast settled on the bottom and a few straggling bubbles (like if you pour coke into a glass) so I tossed it in the fridge to completely flocculate and start over. I thought I would give it taste before pouring off the liquid TH night to see if the yeast was active. It was very sweet, heavily carbonated and definitly had some alcohol in it. I figured it is just going slow as a mo fo so I mixed it up and let it sit. This morning after sitting out it still has that slow releasing carbonation and no signs of krausen.

Is this normal for this strain of yeast?

Was this a bad packet and it is slow due to pitching so few viable cells?

Am I just impatient, used to the Coopers yeast, and wasting everyones time with this post?

Did I miss the fermentation period and have no krausen ring because the krausen hit the plastic wrap on top and left no residue therefore the carbonation I am seeing released is due to the temperature fluctuations? I am thinking this isnt the case, it was ridiculously sweet when I tasted it.

[aurelius121ad]

Just read the liquid yeast post.... looks like I need more patience and to feed my yeast starter a lower gravity wort next time.

[gibbocore]

To take a very left field approach, i'd avoid microwaving the malt, simply because i know that a gentle boil on the stove top has worked time and time again for me and there is a school of thought that microwaving anything can change the molecular structure on a tiny scale, but i'm the anxious type who doesnt like keaving anything to chance. The thinnner wort sounds like the way to go however.

[ryan]

you made up a 500ml. starter using 200g. of malt extract for a 6gm dry yeast??
why didn`t you just rehydrate the yeast and pitch it when it proved?
What`s with the 6g? You`re sposed to be using 12 aren`t you?

[aurelius121ad]

To take a very left field approach, i'd avoid microwaving the malt, simply because i know that a gentle boil on the stove top has worked time and time again for me and there is a school of thought that microwaving anything can change the molecular structure on a tiny scale, but i'm the anxious type who doesnt like keaving anything to chance. The thinner wort sounds like the way to go however.

I don't have a good pot for the stove to boil it up in. the only one i have that isnt my huge brewing pot makes the house stink like burning plastic (gotta love that quality chinese manufacturing!). So i opted for the microwave, not really planning on doing it again... I may just deal with the stench next time!

And i got mixed up in my "looks about right" conversions from imperial to metric so i ended up with what looks like too high OG. at least i learned from my mistakes!

you made up a 500ml. starter using 200g. of malt extract for a 6gm dry yeast??
why didn`t you just rehydrate the yeast and pitch it when it proved?
What`s with the 6g? You`re sposed to be using 12 aren`t you?

Yeah, but i didnt want to buy TOO much at once and have it all confiscated or lost by customs/post office. i figured 6g pitched to a starter a few days prior would be good enough, I should find out today or tomorrow, maybe I will dilute the starter wort some.

[KEG]

http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=767

6 grams.

[ryan]

what is the actual yeast you are using?
I don``t know of $1 Belgiun yeast?

[aurelius121ad]

maybe I should have described it like this:

Fermentis - SafBrew S-33 (6gm)

It seems OK, just really slow.

[rwh]

Am I just impatient, used to the Coopers yeast

Yes.

and wasting everyones time with this post?

No.