How long should I expect to wait before seeing activity in my yeast starter?

I usually see activity in my yeast starters in the first twelve hours after pitching the yeast. This time, however, I haven't seen anything for 48 hours. No bubbling, no signs of floating yeast and it still smells like unfermented wort.

I made the starter as I always do. 3 liters of 1.040 (10 °P) wort with a quarter teaspoon yeast nutrient, cooled to ~22°C (71.6°F) and oxygenated using an air pump with a filter before pitching the yeast.

This is White Labs WLP500 Monastery Ale Yeast. The best-before date is December 31, 2015.

Should I be worried or is a delay this long normal?

Topic starter yeast-starters yeast homebrew

Category Mac

1
answered at

Have you taken a gravity reading? I've had starters that have very little apparent activity that are fermenting right along. It can be tricky to take a gravity sample for a low-volume starter, but with 3L you should have enough to work with to solve this problem w/o overly reducing your cell count. Also, is the starter on a stir-plate, shaken periodically or just sitting?

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