Brewing Saturday, too late for a yeast starter?

I knew this would be the problem with trying to improve my beer making with making a yeast starter. It is remembering to do it 4 days prior to brew day! Of course, I forgot again. Now, I have to buy all the ingredients at the local brew shop tomorrow after work (which will be Friday night). I plan to brew on Saturday. I have a stir plate and plan on using a Wyeast liquid pack. Would there be any possibility to create a starter and have it ready to pitch Saturday afternoon at this point?

Or can I brew the beer (wort) on Saturday and keep it in a carboy several days until the yeast starter is ready to pitch?

yes. According to Jamil Zainasheff, he routinely recommends a one day starter. He suggests pitching at "high krausen". I've had better luck with a 48 hour time, but one day is pretty good if your yeast is fresh.

Edit- I answered before the post was edited. Don't wait. Pitch the yeast starter ASAP. No need to wait. Even a 12 hour starter is better than no starter.

You probably can get by if you're brewing a < 1.050 beer & pitch your starter a high krausen. I know it's not optimal but I'd probably just do a 2L starter. You won't have time to do a 1L & step it up to a 2L.

I routinely pitch yeast the next day - just because I like pitching cold (around 60-62) and sometimes (during spring/summer) I can't get the wort down that low with the chiller alone. If you are confident in your sanitary practices, go for it. If you want to be super sure, a 24 hour starter is better than no starter at all.

On my stir plate a 2l starter is usually totally done in 18hr.

I usually do mine on thurs for a sunday eve brew.

What size does mrmalty say you need. 1l starter explodes pretty quick.

Yes. I routinely do 24 hour starters. I'm brewing on sat and going to do my starter 24h before and dump the whole thing in when it's pitching time.

Dan from stirstarters suggests 18-24 hrs prior

Yeah I do about 18 hr. 1L Starters and I feel this is the best way to go cause the yeast are active when they hit the wort so no delay or strain. JMO though

So at this point I can do this:

1. Smack the yeast pack, let it swell
2. Boil 2 quarts of water with 2 cups of DME
3. Chill the water, add to flask
4. Pitch the yeast into the flask
5. Put on stir plate over night?

I've made starters about 8 hours in advance and never had a problem. When I do this (not ideal - usually I let my starters go 3-4 days) I'll add 1tsp. of yeast nutrient to the starter. Keep an eye on it though, it can get very vigorous!

When harvesting yeast from a bottle of commercial beer, I add 1/2tsp of yeast nutrient to my starter (since you're usually pitching a very small amount of yeast.) I just harvested some yeast from a bottle of Lammin Sahti this way and it worked great.

dmbnpj said:

So at this point I can do this:

1. Smack the yeast pack, let it swell
2. Boil 2 quarts of water with 2 cups of DME
3. Chill the water, add to flask
4. Pitch the yeast into the flask
5. Put on stir plate over night?

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Yes, but no need to let the pack swell first, since you can add it right to the starter.

Add not only the yeast from the smack pack but the nutrient portion as well.

When should I cut the starter plate off and let it settle?

Should I pour off the wort on top and just pitch the slurry?

I let mine spin til pitch time and dump it all in. Extra light dme doesn't effect the taste. Plus the yeast is being ptched into a similar temp liquid, so no shock. I think the yeast would be happier that way. I figure if it's good enough for Jamil it's good enough for me.

Is there any way to know if the starter has made any difference?

dmbnpj said:

Is there any way to know if the starter has made any difference?

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difference how? I'm not sure what you're asking.

You will probably see a decrease in lag time, and a more fully attenuated beer. You will also have less off-flavors, and have a "cleaner" tasting beer.

dmbnpj said:

Is there any way to know if the starter has made any difference?

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There is very little activity with making starters, rarely do they bubble, even more rarely is there a krausen that we see. The only true activity that most of us see is just a creamy band at the bottom when it flocculates out.

Starters are some of the most "un-exciting" fermentations ever.



That one is cold crashed, but even if it is a t room temp, you should see the sediment in the bottom. I use a stirplate, but usually stop it a few hours early to let it settle.

Basically if you see a creamy band of sediment at the bottom, then it's made a difference.

I guess what I am asking is to take a reading on the cell count to make sure that the starter actually created more yeast.

What I am looking for though is a simple way (i.e. Will the mL of the starter increase or something)?

dmbnpj said:

I guess what I am asking is to take a reading on the cell count to make sure that the starter actually created more yeast.

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You have a hemacytometer to take a cell count of your starters? Not many folks outside of a research lab have something like that. We just rely on looking at the sediment.

dmbnpj said:

I guess what I am asking is to take a reading on the cell count to make sure that the starter actually created more yeast.

What I am looking for though is a simple way (i.e. Will the mL of the starter increase or something)?

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That worried me too on my first starter, then I realized that the difference is easy to see. You'll see what I mean.

How long should I let the starter swirl on the stir plate before adding more DME boiled with some water?

dmbnpj said:

How long should I let the starter swirl on the stir plate before adding more DME boiled with some water?

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Depends on how big a starter you are aiming for and how long you want to make it for.If you are aiming for a 3 day starter I would give it another boost on day 2...

dmbnpj said:

How long should I let the starter swirl on the stir plate before adding more DME boiled with some water?

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I don't add to it, just too much risk for me. I figure after the yeast burns through 1500 ml of wort it's a lot more yeasties than a 'pitchable' vial or pack. But I haven't made a BIG beer yet, so I might be forced to then.