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Kolsch yeast starter - krausen or contamination?

Post #1 made 13 years ago
by non.operational
Hi fellow BIABers,
sorry if this is posted in the wrong section, and sorry for another "will this turn out ok?" question - I appreciate that it may be unanswerable.

My
IMAG1491.jpg
question : do you think this yeast starter is contaminated, or just krausening?

The yeast I used is WLP029 Kolsch, harvested from two previous generations, and stored in a Mason jar in my fridge for approx 3 months.

My concern is the bright white skin on the top - I don't remember this from previous uses. I don't want to waste lots of good / expensive pilsner malt if it's going to end up contaminated.


Any opinions? Am I being paranoid?
Thanks in advance, Pete.
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Last edited by non.operational on 12 Sep 2012, 03:24, edited 2 times in total.

Post #3 made 13 years ago
by thughes
Yeah, that one looks kinda funky! I'd take a pass and make another starter.(But I'd save that one for a sour beer experiment)
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Post #4 made 13 years ago
by shibolet
100% contaminated.
but do try it in a sour beer experiment as Todd suggested.
Cube:
fermenter: Sourdough Spelt Ale, Classic Lambic, Oud Brune, Barrel Aged Belgian Dubbel
Kegs: Bob's Black IPA, Blanc Blond, Soda...
to be brewed:

Post #5 made 13 years ago
by non.operational
Thanks very much for the replies, I'll take your advice and get some fresh yeast! I think there may have been a poor seal on the jar I stored this in.

I gave the starter a good sniff earlier, and it had a strong clove aroma, very Hefeweizen-like! Might just bung it in some pils & wheat wort!
Much appreciated, P

Post #6 made 13 years ago
by non.operational
Hi, just thought I'd tie up this thread by saying that after the sour beer comments I brewed a beer with this mutated yeast -a quick partial mash batch of Wild Kölsch.
I'm pretty pleasantly surprised with it; it's only Kölsch-like in that it's light & crisp -the flavour profile is dominated by sharp lemon sourness, clovey hefe, and a slight horseblanket funk. No real undesirable wild favours (yet).
As an aside I was really impressed with the process and results of using DME -I'll definitely use extract again for batches that are with hop-centric, or are experimental / quickies.
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Post #8 made 13 years ago
by lambert
This is very weird. I have brewed a Kolsch 2-3 months ago using WLP029 build up from a slant. Attenuation was a bit low (FG was 1.018 instead of 1.011) but I blamed that on poor aeration. However, I had to do a double take on my first taste of the beer. I really thought that I mixed up my yeasts because what I tasted was a heffeweizen. That is with a 95% Pils and 5% Vienna malt grain bill. No horseblanket funk - yet! It's rather tasty, just a pity I was after a Kolsch!!!!
I guess this a "good" yeast infection to have!
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