BeerBorg

I did up a yeast starter with some WLP550. Set the stir plate to a low setting, just creating a dimple in the surface, and let it go. About 36 hours into it, I checked and noticed that it was no longer swirling and had a fair krausen on it. After messing about for a while to see if the stir plate had malfunctioned or what, I managed to get it going again, but it took a few tries. I think what happened is that the yeast took off, producing so much gas and bubbles, that the bubbles were getting sucked down to the stir bar and throwing it off. Today is slightly over 48 hours and it's fine. Anyone else have this happen?

I’ve had the stir bar sling off to the side if I turn it up too high. Sometimes I lose my vortex (at the same speed) as the yeast count goes up. I’ve always wondered if the viscosity changes enough to do that.

Can't say that I have, no. I've spun a 2L starter on mine with no problem.

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I have had starters that had lots of krausen which caused the vortex to decrease but not stop. Turning it higher fixed it.

High end stirplates can auto compensate for viscosity changes, they can also include a built in heater and thermostat, but setting the flask dead center and turning up the speed should be enough to keep the whirlpool going.

Well, strange starter or not, this one took off like crazy. Had serious action within hours of pitching, and still going 4 days later. This is only the fourth one that I've done, and I'm beginning to really like making starters!