Q2XL

Recipes 

I went to Mr. Malty and for the type of beer that I am brewing it says that I should have a 1.6 quart starter.

My OG should be 1.051. I am brewing 5 gallons.

So, my question is this. How much malt and how much water should I boil to end up with the 1.6 quarts? I do not know the ratio of malt to water to get a good starter for this brew.

John Palmer says a 1/2 cup of DME for a pint of water to get an OG of 1.040, but I am looking for 1.051.

Does everyone just go with the standard recipe above for most of their beers?
Thanks guys.

cubbies

Recipes 

I always use 6oz of DME to 2 quarts of water.

DeafSmith

Recipes 

There was a recent discussion about that here: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/conflicting-instructions-making-yeast-starter-103468/

It seems to me that Palmer's numbers are off - that the gravity would be too high. In one place in his book, he uses a figure of 42 points per pound per gallon, and in another place 40. Either way, I think if you used a half pound of DME, you would be pretty close to your desired gravity. I have heard some advice that you don't want a high gravity for a starter - see the "Fourteen essential questions about yeast starters" at mrmalty.com.

For my last brew, I made a one quart starter 48 hours in advance with 3 ounces of DME, then used a cup of that for a hydrometer sample (gravity was in low 30's) and pitched the vial of WLP001 to the remaining pint and a half. On Sunday, I pitched the entire starter to my wort (O.G. = 1.051) - fermentation took off within 12 hours, has been blowing krausen up into the blowoff tube on a six gallon B.B. for the last two days, so I'd say it's working great.

I get the impression that it isn't really all that critical.

ajf

Recipes 

It doesn't matter what the gravity of your brew is, you still want to make a starter with a gravity between 1.030 and 1.040. That translates to about 100g DME per liter water or 3.5 oz DME per qt water

-a.

Q2XL

Recipes 

Just finished it...6 oz to 2 quarts.