Here is what Wyeast says,
"Pitching a Wyeast Activator pack gives the following results within 12 to 18 hours:
* 1 liter starter = about 150 billion cells
* 2 liter starter = about 200 billion cells
* 1 liter starter, then pitched into 4 liter starter = 400 billion cells
"
Taking into account the viability of the yeast at 77% being a month old from packaging you will get 154 billion cells in a 2 liter starter. Now here is the deal with weizens, under pitching slightly on weizen's is actually sometimes deliberately done to pronounce the yeast esters that is characteristic of bavarian weizen yeast so under pitching this style of beer really isn't that big of a deal in my opinion. My figures of course are very elementary and yeast propagation can only be an exact science if your process variables are the same every time.
In my personal opinion, build the biggest starter you can in your growler and let it ferment out, it will roughly put you in the ballpark of 140-150 billion cells. At that point you'll only be roughly under pitching by 80% of the recommended figure.
Remember that making ANY starter in general is better than pitching the smack pack directly. So even if you can't hit the figure exactly due to the limitations of your equipment, making a starter in general is going to produce better beer and in your situation under pitching slightly may be favorable to pitching the recommended amount if you're looking for the yeast esters.
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Primary 1 - Cream Ale
Primary 2 - Cream Ale
Primary 3 - Empty
Secondary 1 - Empty
Bottled - Apfelwein, Big Roasted Rocket Fuel RIS
Kegged 1 - English Nut Brown Ale
Kegged 2 - American Brown IPA
Kegged 3 - Bavarian Hefeweizen
Kegged 4 - Empty
Kegged 5 - Empty
Last edited by hukdizzle; 03-16-2010 at 06:02 PM.
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When to start my starter?
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