I am trying to get a yeaster starter going. I have a quart plastic
container with 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup concord grape juice, and some
sugar. I am using turbo yeast and usually that stuff works fast. All
I have after over 24 hours is a bunch of yeast sediment and no fizz or
any visible action. However, when I put an airlock on the bottle it
insicats that some gas is forming (the water moves all the way into one
chamber). Is this yeast working? Should I go ahead and use it or
start over?

I know some sources talk about rehydrating your dried yeast before pitching
it, but I never do this anymore and I've yet to have a fermentation that
didn't start right up. If you're using fresh commercial wine yeast, and you
have adequate sugar, yeast nutrient if required, acceptable acidity range,
etc., I recommend just opening the dried yeast packet and sprinkling it
right on top of the must. Otherwise, if you hydrate the yeast, you want to
be very careful about the temperature and quantity of the water and juice,
and careful about timing the rehydration just as per instructions, or else
you can do more harm than good.
Jon
[Check out my winemaking homepage
http://users.rcn.com/jcgilliam/Southeast_PA_Winemaker/!]


"mdginzo" > wrote in message
ups.com.gnresend...
>I am trying to get a yeaster starter going. I have a quart plastic
> container with 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup concord grape juice, and some
> sugar. I am using turbo yeast and usually that stuff works fast. All
> I have after over 24 hours is a bunch of yeast sediment and no fizz or
> any visible action. However, when I put an airlock on the bottle it
> insicats that some gas is forming (the water moves all the way into one
> chamber). Is this yeast working? Should I go ahead and use it or
> start over?
>

I am a newbie and was having the same problem. It was difficult
finding any info about starting the yeast going. Seems to me the old
timers forget us newbies don't understand the simplest of steps
because we have never done it and of course it is second nature to the
old timers. Anyway, I did find a post, real old one, on a chat group I
believe vintalk.com or something like it and it started my yeast
fermenting immediately. Here it is.

"Make sure your yeast is alive by making up a starter bottle - add
yeast and a pinch of nutrient to 1/4 pint of luke warm water with a
teaspoon of sugar added. You should see activity in 15 minutes or so.
Add 1/4 pt or so of your cherry must to this yeast starter. When that
is fermenting well add a bit more must. When you have a pint or so
that is going well, cautiously pour it into the main batch. Do not
stir at this stage as the yeast will work better on the surface. When
you see a reasonable amount of foaming you can stir it."

You will notice the must or any juice, etc. isn't added until the
yeast has a good start. Seems this makes a big difference on how quick
the yeast starts fermenting. It worked for me.

Hope this helps.







On 12 Dec 2005 19:35:02 -0800, "mdginzo" > wrote:

>I am trying to get a yeaster starter going. I have a quart plastic
>container with 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup concord grape juice, and some
>sugar. I am using turbo yeast and usually that stuff works fast. All
>I have after over 24 hours is a bunch of yeast sediment and no fizz or
>any visible action. However, when I put an airlock on the bottle it
>insicats that some gas is forming (the water moves all the way into one
>chamber). Is this yeast working? Should I go ahead and use it or
>start over?