I am making a starter in my 5 liter erlenmeyer flask by using a hot water bath. The water is at a rolling boil, but the wort is not rolling. It is only a starter so I am planning on 20 minutes In the hot water bath. Should I be concerned that the wort is not " boiling".
I wouldn’t be concerned if the wort isn’t having a rolling boil. You don’t need to boil for 20 minutes. Below is something I posted in another thread: “I was surprised to ‘learn’ that you only need to boil for one minute to purify water: “Boiling water is the most effective method of purifying it. To do so, you will need a heat source, such as a cooker or camping stove, and a vessel to hold the water. According to the Washington State Department of Health and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, you should bring the water to boil and keep it rolling for one minute to purify it. At altitudes above one mile, 2,000 meters, you should increase the rolling time to three minutes.” http://beeradvocate.com/community/threads/going-to-try-a-yeast-starter.28432/#post-353122 Cheers!
If your wort was actually boiling, a minute or so (at sea level) would have been enough. Since it wasn't boiling, the longer time needed would depend on the temp. Although 35 minutes was almost certainly longer than you needed, it wouldn't have hurt anything.
I use bottled water for yeast starters...500ml to 1/2 cup DME..sometimes if I'm feeling anal I boil for 5min...if not...right out of the bottle. Never had a problem.
Correction...DME should still be boiled...even if the water is good. I've used bottled water to rinse my yeast dregs out of the growler, but always boil the DME (however much I'm using by volume) : )
