Help with decanting and growing a 3 liter starter.

I just started using liquid yeast. I built a stir plate, and purchased 1, 2 and 5 litre Erlenmeyer flasks.

I have a belgian golden ale i want to make. OG between 1.070 and 1.080

I was planning on using wyeast 1388 or something similar.

I was going to dump 1 smack pack into 3 litres of 1.040 wort (300 grams DME per 3 litres water) and put it on my stir plate at room temp.

I was then going to wait 24 hours then put it in the fridge and wait another 24 hours; decant the liquid off the top then pitch the slurry into my 5.7 gallon wort.

Does this make sense? Thanks for your input in advance.

I put your numbers in http://yeastcalc.com/
Used 1.080 OG. 5.7 gallon batch. Yeast producion date 10/26/2013.
75% viability. You need 312 billion cells. 3 liter starter of 1.040 SG will give you 322 billion cells. Using Troesters' calculation for a stir plate will give you 497 billion cells. Looks like you are good to go unless your yeast is much older.

I have been using Troesters' calculations and have had no problems.

flars said:

I put your numbers in http://yeastcalc.com/ Used 1.080 OG. 5.7 gallon batch. Yeast producion date 10/26/2013. 75% viability. You need 312 billion cells. 3 liter starter of 1.040 SG will give you 322 billion cells. Using Troesters' calculation for a stir plate will give you 497 billion cells. Looks like you are good to go unless your yeast is much older. I have been using Troesters' calculations and have had no problems.

Click to expand...

Thanks flars.

Do you have any input based on experience about the timing i mentioned.

The 24 hour on a stir plate and 24 hour on the fridge? Should I worry about my yeast falling asleep in the fridge?

Most data indicates the maximum yeast cell production ocurrs in 18 to 24 hours on the stir plate. I've usually let mine go for about 36 hours.

A test I have done is to turn my stir plate off for a couple of hours, it has usually been after about 24 to 28 hours of running, then shake the container. Have not gotten an instant krausen so I figure the wort has almost totally fermented out if not completely. I'm overly cautious and let it run a while longer.

I've never gone less than 48 hours in the frig to drop yeast out of suspension. Some yeast will drop faster than others so the amount of time can vary. My brew day is usually a few days away so I don't have any notes on the amount of actual time for the wort to clear.

Your yeast will come out of the frig in great shape. On brew day decant and let the yeast warm room temp before pitching.

Sorry I can not be 100% positive on your schedule.

yeah depends on how quickly they flocculate. i've never used that strain so i can't comment specifically, but the other belgian strains i use (other than wit or bug blends! i mean rochefort and westmalle) are not that quick and might take a couple days. but if you have a good yeast cake at the bottom and the liquid is still a bit cloudy, it's likely that almost all of the yeast have flocced out, so you can still decant and pitch if you need to! you can always save the liquid supernatant, back into the fridge just to see how much more yeast drop out over the course of a week, then you will know for next time if it's worth waiting.

You guys are great. Thanks for the very good advice.

flars said:

Your yeast will come out of the frig in great shape. On brew day decant and let the yeast warm room temp before pitching.

Click to expand...

Not that he's all knowing, but Denny Conn has recommended on here that it's better to pitch the decanted starter right out of the fridge. Something about it being better for the yeast to warm up in the fresh wort than in the already fermented starter wort. I don't recall the exact science, but it's worked for me just fine.

Ilan34 said:

Not that he's all knowing, but Denny Conn has recommended on here that it's better to pitch the decanted starter right out of the fridge. Something about it being better for the yeast to warm up in the fresh wort than in the already fermented starter wort. I don't recall the exact science, but it's worked for me just fine.

Click to expand...

I will be brewing the Wry smile soon with the 1450 and doing a 3l starter. It will be my 1st time doing a starter. Are there any issues with getting the thick slurry out of the beaker? It seems like it wouldn't pour well.

Yermom said:

I will be brewing the Wry smile soon with the 1450 and doing a 3l starter. It will be my 1st time doing a starter. Are there any issues with getting the thick slurry out of the beaker? It seems like it wouldn't pour well.

Click to expand...

When you are decanting leave some of the wort in your container. Swirl the yeast into it and it will pour out for pitching. Sometimes takes quit a bit of swirling to loosen up the yeast in the middle of the container.

And don't forget the stir bar!
I usually use a magnet on the outside to keep the stirbar steady on the inside.

Thanks everyone. I'm ready to go.. I think.