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zeg · 12-19-2012, 06:33 PM

No, only 5 gallons, but fairly high gravity lagers. The calculators are calling for ~600 billion cells, and that's what it takes to get the counts up there. It'd only be about a 50% overpitch if I started with a 100% viable commercial vial (100 billion cells, well more than I'll have), and it still should provide an adequate pitch down to 4-5 billion viable cells (probably slightly less than I have). For my best guess starting counts, it's a comfortible slight overpitch.

**jtkratzer** · 12-19-2012, 08:30 PM

Alrighty, got my yeast and everything for the next two brews. 11/29/12 date on the Wy1056. I need about 300 billion for the Centennial Blonde. 2 steps of 1.5 liters each on a stir plate is calculated at 450 billion in 1.5 litres of wort. I'll pictch 500ml of the starter into each of the two fermenters for the CB, and step the last 500 ml up for the Bourbon Vanilla Porter starter. That one, I'll step it up to the appropriate size and let it ferment out completely on the last step, chill until brew day, decant, warm up, and pitch.

Sounds like a reasonable plan.

**jtkratzer** · 12-20-2012, 02:47 AM

Underway with the first step.

**jtkratzer** · 12-20-2012, 02:35 PM

Anyone have a preference between dumping fresh wort onto what's already in the starter vs chilling, decanting off the spent wort and then adding fresh to just the "cake?"

zeg · 12-20-2012, 03:09 PM

I've only done one stepped starter, and I did the crash/decant approach. It wasn't because I thought very hard about the decision, I didn't have enough space in the jug to do anything else. It worked well this way, based on fermentation starting quickly, even in a lager at 48°F.

Even if I had a choice, I'd probably do it this way again. It avoids stressing the yeast by keeping them in contact with all the alcohol from the spent starter, and also keeps your starter wort gravity closer to the wort you made up. I'm not sure what effect, if any, dilution would have on the reproduction.