EamusCatuli

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Hey all,

I want to start making yeast starters for my brews (after 3 years, idiotic I know) and I only have Corn Sugar/ Dextrose - can this work as a replacement to using DME?

I live in Chicago without a car and the only HBS is in West Jesus - reaaalllly wanting to avoid making the trip for something so small.

Any suggestions?

Thanks!

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Tinga

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i would think that you would need some nutrient or energizer in there as well as the corn sugar.

kpr121

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I just successfully used a half cup of LME from my kit.

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Pivovar_Koucky

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I'm pretty sure that I read somewhere that yeast can rapidly lose their ability to ferment maltose if they only have simple sugars to work with. I haven't done any experiment to verify this though.

Wolfy

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Sugar/dex is not a good option for a starter.

Could you save some of the wort from your next batch of beer and use that?

starrfish

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DME is your best bet... It will work with other sugars but not as efficiently... introducing a whole new sugar chain to what they have been used to building on... can cause a bit of "shock" to strain you started... Best to stay in same sugar family.

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octo

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what about using apple juice as a starter? or would this put an off taste in the yeast?

samc

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You waited 3 years to make a starter, why not just wait until you can get the DME?

cactusgarrett

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As Wolfy stated, use extra wort from a previous batch. Also, you could easily mash 1/2lb grain on the stovetop to obtain a couple quarts of starter wort.

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soundsandsuds

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You can make a starter with LME if you have it. You just need to convert for the difference in strength between LME and DME.
This thread explains the conversion:
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/lme-dme-conversion-174602/