Can somebody explain this please?!

[Spook]

I started 10 litre batch of a dark ale with t-58 I'd hydated and made up into a starter 8 hours previously.
The og was 1050.
The thing went absolutely berserk - within 90 minutes there was immense activity; after 6 hours it was so busy it looked to be boiling - I could actually hear it from the far side of the room.
After 36 hours it looked to have stopped and the top of the liquid has almost completely cleared to the point you wouldn't even think it had started were it not for the ring around the fermenting bin.
I thought something had gone horribly wrong and out of confused curiosity checked the gravity which is now 1014 - I know I should probably have left it, but forgive my concern eliciting improper behaviour.
Could this be right or have I made a mess somewhere with my readings?
I'm not going to touch it again for a good fortnight or so, but would welcome any thoughts on this.
I must confess I've never heard of bionic yeast before....
Confused.

(oh, and thanks for the advice on my 'newbie mash thread' - those 2 brews seem to have gone well are are now in the shed after being primed for 10 days in the airing cupboard. Couldn't resist and tested a bottle of each - pleasantly suprised and impressed)

[Uncle Joshua]

Probably spot on. take reading over the next few days.

[JammyBStard]

It changes from yeast to yeast but that sounds perfectly normal. English ale yeasts tend to go off like a rocket and then finish slowly. on the otherhand I've had US-05 bubble gently for over two weeks before. I think I read somwhere that (in the old days) John smith used to be able to go from mashtun to pub in under four days on one beer.

[Spook]

Thanks for that UJ and JB - much reassured.
I'll leave it be for 5 days or so before checking it again.

On further reflection I'm going to assuage my grain-newbie anxiety by sticking to some simpler recipes for my next couple of brews instead of this more complex darkie malarky - just until I've got some more experience under my belt, and indeed probably making it require letting out a notch...

Back with more questions soon in the hope that further down the line I'll be in a position to maybe answer a few...
Thanks again

[seymour]

+1 to all the above comments. That's exactly how the T-58 Belgian ale yeast behaves. It's especially fast in these ambient summer temperatures. If you don't mind some banana, pepper, and clove spice in your beer, I think you're gonna really enjoy that one.

[JammyBStard]

I've just re-read you post and one thing you might want to look at is yeast cell count. There is considered an optimum yeast cell count for a brew and the dry yeast packets are designed not to need a starter for a 23L batch at a standard OG, just re-hydrate and pitch the yeast culture grows at a predictible rate and produces certain desirable flavor stuff on the way. By doing a starter you've increased the cell count and also added that to a 10L batch so you'd have had a massive cell count for 10L which might explain why it went off like a rocket. This is not at all a bad thing, nothing to worry about and your beer wont suffer at all because of it but you might want to look into it for next time: http://www.mrmalty.com/pitching.php

[Spook]

Appreciated JB. Thanks again.
There were two reasons I made up a starter - firstly, a lot of the stuff I've gleaned off the 'net, especially concerning all-grain, seems to stress the need for a starter so I just gave it a go; and secondly I reckoned that with yeast being a living thing which grew and multiplied to do it's job then a starter made from just a small amount of dried would be just as effective as pitching a whole packet and let me get a few brews from the same sachet. I'm not tight, it just seemed logical.
I'll check the link you posted, but what are your thoughts?

[AnthonyUK]

Hi Spook,
The yeast companies do not generally recommend you make a starter from dried yeast as it is packaged at the optimal time ready to pitch.
If you want to make a starter then liquid yeast is best.

[JammyBStard]

I'm not tight, it just seemed logical.

Truly a Yorkshireman I don't think there's anything wrong with that and it sounds like it's working well for you.
I went to liquid yeast's for a while, but I went back to re-hydrated dry yeast for english/American ales because they are so reliable, easy to store and the manufacturer has done all the sums for you. For weizens and other less common types of beer you have to go to liquid to find the strain.
There's probably a good reason for it, but I've never understood why Whitelabs don't put enough cells in a tube for a standard five gallon batch. Making a starter is cool and everything but if your like me often working away during the week and you want to start brewing on saturday morning you don't have time to make a starter and I'm not going to spend 12 quid on two tubes of liquid yeast.

[Matt12398]

I understand your logic but it can actually have a negative effect on dried yeast if you make a starter from it. It's not just a case of don't worry about it because you can get away without it. The dried yeast is in a dormant state and the yeast manufacturers optimise their yeast's nutrional reserves for quick starting in the main wort. By creating a starter you are expending some of those reserves and stressing the yeast.

You tend to find that brewers needing a higher cell count when using dried yeasts go down the route of using more than one packet rather than stepping up with a starter.

[darkonnis]

All above points are perfectly valid. However the main reason you don't make a starter with dry yeast is because it is as cheap to buy another packet (cheaper usually) than it is to bother with a starter. Yeah their is all the blerb about nutrition and optimal timing and yada yada but realistically, they pack enough to do about 23L at normal gravity. It can do more, it can do less. Over pitching can cause negative effects and you can end up with very yeastlike smelling beer, as you get different sets of esters and phenols...

Ultimately, your overpitch coupled with high temps = fast ferment and as its T-58... probably lovely lovely beer...

[orlando]

I reckoned that with yeast being a living thing which grew and multiplied to do it's job then a starter made from just a small amount of dried would be just as effective as pitching a whole packet and let me get a few brews from the same sachet.

I take that as meaning you did not pitch the whole packet of yeast just rehydrating some? Did you measure out the amount used?

In the book Yeast (White & Zainasheff) they discuss under or over pitching and although both are to be avoided they err on the side of over pitching so you are OK there. I have an amusing image of all this yeast fighting like mad to get as much of the limited resources that they could in a really small window of opportunity, making for the really volcanic and speedy ferment. I guess in the end they ran out of "food" a little too quick so this will probably impact on the brew but a fascinating experiment all the same, keep us posted.