Making my starter for my Dunkelweizen. Put it in ice bath to chill the wort and looked and saw ice floating in my starter.
Bottom blew out and wort and ice bath became one :-\
Try this with a 3-gallon carboy sometime. 
yeah that would suck even more ;D
Is that just a glass jug?
Yeah I’ve been using a 1 gal jug for some time now.
Bad idea. Time to invest in a proper flask. 2 liter aren’t too expensive.
Hot wort + cold glass = bad times eventually.
i’ve got 2l flasks. i’ve used my jug at least 3 dozen times or more-1st issue. now i suppose i will chill in flask and transfer to jug if i need the volume.
Yeah, pyrex is far more up to the rapid thermal changes than glass.
Even then pyrex will eventually shatter because the pyrex made today isn’t as thermal shock resistant as the older stuff.
That’s why I eventually just went to pressure canning my wort ahead of time and using it as needed. (Drew’s Pressure Canned Starter Wort Method) Yeah, you gotta buy a pressure canner and some jars, but that will even out over time with the loss of flasks and time spent making starter wort!
Canning wort is a long term goal for me. Want to wait and get on the large all american canners.
As you’ve just verified, you shouldn’t put hot wort into one of those! I boil and cool in a pot, then pour the wort into the jug.
yep understood. sometimes we know and do otherwise-guilty :-\
Been there, done that, cleaned the sink, got the Tshirt. Thankfully jugs are cheap enough.
I get around this now by not heating my starters. Room temperature DME goes into a sanitized jug with filtered water out of my fridge and a pinch of nutrient. I’m sure my risk of contamination goes up a bit, but I haven’t had a problem yet. I do boil my starters when I’m growing up bottle dregs or very old yeast as an extra precaution, but if I’m pitching a healthy pack of yeast to a starter then I figure that DME and my water supply are sanitary enough for my purposes.
Dude, I’m right there with ya! Half the stuff I’ve learned has been through screwing up!
true that. all is good- starter up and running in my 2l flask, and had a homebrew to morn the loss of my jug ;D
Exactly what I do Denny. Pour cooled wort into flask or jug depending on size
Mine fits 7 quart jars or 4 half gallons. For starter wort I use half gallons. I forget what I paid for it but its a presto and was around $100 I think. Its been a good investment. Terri loves it at harvest time. This year she did about 20 quarts each of beans and tomatoes. Ive done canned stew meat in it when the cheap roasts are on sale. Makes great stew starter cuz you can use fresh roots that dont get mushy but the meat is nice and tender.
I think im down to my last half gallon of starter so its time to do another batch soon. Takes about ten minutes of labor, and about 90 minutes for canner to do its thing from heating to rattle temp, 15 minutes there, then cool off to where you can open it. I highly recommend it
The problem with soda-lime glass is that it does not handle thermal shock very well. What you need to do is to start off with warm water and slowly add ice. Borosilicate glass (a.k.a. Pyrex, KIMAX, sometimes erroneously referred to as flint glass, …) handles thermal shock much better than soda-lime glass, but it too will fracture in time. While Erlenmeyer flasks are used for boiling, the shape of an Erlenmeyer flask makes it less resistant to expansion and contraction stress fractures. That’s why they make a piece of lab glassware for boiling known as a Florence flask (a.k.a. a boiling flask).
Another practical tip for those who boil in Erlenmeyer flasks: clumps of DME stuck to the bottom will get MUCH hotter than the rest of the flask, which is in contact with the liquid, and can cause cracking to happen sooner rather than later. Stir well before heating!
I’ve also moved to canning starter wort from an AG batch. The prep may not be easier, but once it’s done you don’t have to boil anything on starter day.