tottwei

Recipes 

Can I simply pitch the slurry from a bottle of let's say Saison Dupont? Is it better to make a starter? Also, I don't know if one bottle will be enough for a 5 gallon batch or if 4 bottles is too much. Or if it doesn't matter at all how much I use. Any ideas?

NordeastBrewer77

Recipes 

make a very small, low OG starter. when that's done, begin stepping it up to the proper size for pitching.
i'm currently doing just that with Bell's yeast from 4 bottles of amber. started in a 250ml 1.02 starter, then to a 500ml of the same gravity. next is 500ml of 1.04, then into the 1.5L of 1.04, then i'll pitch that slurry.
it takes some time to grow enough yeast, especially in the first couple starters, but it's a really fun thing to do. lets you spend more time on this great hobby.

__________________
The Polk Street Brewery
Brew Blog
Primary: Honey Weizen (a ,Midwest kit), Columbus IPA
Secondary: No. 3 Burton, RIS
Bottled: Simcoe IPA, Northern English Brown
Kegged: German Alt, Octane IPA

Give a man beer and his thirst is quenched. Teach a man to brew and it will never be again.

tottwei

Recipes 

Thanks. That is incredibly helpful. One other question though. I have a one gallon glass jug with a stopper and bubbler. Is this a good vessel for all stages of my starter?

TyTanium

Recipes 

Yup, sure is. Though tent the opening with foil instead of the stopper - you want oxygen in this case to build up your cell count. Give it a good swirl every time you walk by.

A stir plate would be better (constant swirling = more O2), but glass jugs work GREAT.

NordeastBrewer77

Recipes 

sure is. i'm making a starter w/1098 in a gallon jug later today. just boil your wort in another vessel and transfer it into the jug once it's cooled.

__________________
The Polk Street Brewery
Brew Blog
Primary: Honey Weizen (a ,Midwest kit), Columbus IPA
Secondary: No. 3 Burton, RIS
Bottled: Simcoe IPA, Northern English Brown
Kegged: German Alt, Octane IPA

Give a man beer and his thirst is quenched. Teach a man to brew and it will never be again.

tottwei

Recipes 

Awesome. Thanks, guys.
Last question, I promise. Do I just add the yeast of one bottle to the wort? I realize the point is to get the right cell count, but does it matter what I start with?

NordeastBrewer77

Recipes 

i always start with a few bottles, but guys do it with one all the time.

BTW, ask all the questions you want/need. when i wanna know about something, i want as many details as i can get!

__________________
The Polk Street Brewery
Brew Blog
Primary: Honey Weizen (a ,Midwest kit), Columbus IPA
Secondary: No. 3 Burton, RIS
Bottled: Simcoe IPA, Northern English Brown
Kegged: German Alt, Octane IPA

Give a man beer and his thirst is quenched. Teach a man to brew and it will never be again.

tottwei

Recipes 

Glad you feel that way because questions keep occurring to me! I really appreciate all the help. This website is by far the best resource I've come across.
I'm obviously new to starters so do I start at 1.02 and then wait a day to up the volume? Then another day before I up the OG and so on?? Or does it depend on bubbler action?

NordeastBrewer77

Recipes 

when making a starter from a package of yeast, 1.040 at the desired volume is fine. when culturing from a bottle, start out small and low grav, say 250ml at 1.020, when that's finished, decant starter beer and pitch slurry into a 500ml of the same gravity. when that's done, decant, and pitch slurry into 500ml around 1.040, when that's really kicking off, add 1.040 wort to top off to the desired level. that should grow the few million cells that were cultured into hundreds of billions of cells ready to make some beer.

__________________
The Polk Street Brewery
Brew Blog
Primary: Honey Weizen (a ,Midwest kit), Columbus IPA
Secondary: No. 3 Burton, RIS
Bottled: Simcoe IPA, Northern English Brown
Kegged: German Alt, Octane IPA

Give a man beer and his thirst is quenched. Teach a man to brew and it will never be again.

tottwei

Recipes 

Ok I think I can handle that. I'm gonna get on it right now.
Thanks for all the help and I'll be sure to post how this thing turns out. Good luck with your next brews!