Yeast starter with danstar Notty

New brewer here. I just purchased a yeast starter kit and I am brewing this Saturday. I have never used a yeast starter and is ok to use it with dry yeast? If so should I do the starter tomorrow to be ready for Saturday?

Thanks

notty doesn't need a starter ... no dry yeast does as i understand it ... i have heard of some folks doing one with dry though if you just want to do one for the experience ... but i probably wouldn't ... fewer steps is a good thing for new brewers IMO

Just follow the directions for rehydration on dry yeast (typically just pour into 1/4 cup of lukewarm water, let it sit for 15 minutes, stir it up, pitch). No need for a starter. I use Notty on the regular, do this, and never have a problem.

bdkelly said:

Just follow the directions for rehydration on dry yeast (typically just pour into 1/4 cup of lukewarm water, let it sit for 15 minutes, stir it up, pitch). No need for a starter. I use Notty on the regular, do this, and never have a problem.

Click to expand...

That water should have been boiled for a few minutes and allowed to cool down to pitching temperature before you add the yeast granules.

I use about 1 cup of water for re-hydration in a pyrex measuring cup. I keep it covered with a piece of Aluminum foil or saran wrap while it is hydrating, When ready, swirl carefully and pitch.

Keep everything that touches the cooled wort and yeast well sanitized.

bdkelly said:

Just follow the directions for rehydration on dry yeast (typically just pour into 1/4 cup of lukewarm water, let it sit for 15 minutes, stir it up, pitch). No need for a starter. I use Notty on the regular, do this, and never have a problem.

Click to expand...

That water should have been boiled for a few minutes and allowed to cool down to pitching temperature before you add the yeast granules.

I use about 1 cup of water for re-hydration in a pyrex measuring cup. I keep it covered with a piece of Aluminum foil or saran wrap while it is hydrating, When ready, swirl carefully and pitch.

Keep everything that touches the cooled wort and yeast well sanitized.

Use the following website as a "guide" to the correct yeast pitching amounts: yeastcalc.com

An 11.5g sachet of Danstar Nottingham should provide you ~200 billion yeast cells.

On yeastcalc, enter your type of beer (ale, lager), enter your suspected starting gravity (e.g. 1.054), and enter your suspected batch size (e.g. 5.25 gallons into the fermenter). It will provide you the approximate amount of yeast cells you should be pitching for your batch on the far right. If it indicates that you're "within range" of the ~200 billion yeast cells that come in a properly rehydrated sachet of Nottingham then you're good to go, otherwise you might want to make adjustments.

I figure that if I'm within 20-40 billion up or down then I'm okay with it, afterall I'm HOMEbrewing . I also pay close attention to fermentation temperatures as this is another aspect that will bite you in the butt if you're not paying attention (notty is good from 55-70F IMO; low for clean, higher for some fruity esters).

Thanks for the quick replies. This really helps.

i've been brewing for several years, and almost always use dry yeast. most of my beers are 1.050-60 range. i've never used a starter for dry, and only had a problem with fermentation 1 time. that was back a few years ago when nottingham had that problem with the bad batch, and i got 1 of them