WISAZ13

Recipes 

Ok, messed up my first batch and going to try another one. My question before I start in the morning is how necessary is making a yeast starter?

I'm brewing up a wheat beer (Boundary Waters Wheat from Midwest Supplies) using a vial of the White Labs yeast. Can I just pitch this in after I have cooled and aerated the wort? Or do I need to make the yeast starter a couple days before?

Thanks in advance!

Brulosopher

Recipes 

I make a starter for every single batch, regardless of OG. That said... if your vial is FRESH, you can get away with pitching it straight into a 5 gallon batch if the OG is 1.050 or less (my opinion).

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Easiest Method for Harvesting Clean Yeast

Keezer/Kegerator Build

Recipes Worth Brewing... Over and Over and Over Again:
Tiny Bottom Pale Ale (House Pale Ale)- Sessionable, crisp, earthy/floral
Brulosopher's Dark Brown Ale - Creamy, subtly complex, incredibly quaffable
Brulosopher's Blonde Ale - Crisp, dry, nice malt-hop balance

"The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently." - FN

basilchef

Recipes 

Its liquid, make a starter. Using starters has improved my beers ten fold. Will never go back. Plus they are fun! You also have more control over how much you pitch. Its hard to over pitch, under pitching is no bueno and pitching the right amount will give you better results.

WISAZ13

Recipes 

Is there any specific DME to use for this starter? My recipe kit only came with LME, but most of the instructions in reading call for measuring out a DME to water/yeast ratio..

ChessRockwell

Recipes 

Agreed. Would like to add that since you said it's a wheat beer, if the vial of yeast you're using is a hefeweizen yeast (not a neutral american strain) it's pretty common for people to underpitch a little to get better yeast character. Considering the gravity of your brew is probably sufficiently low to begin with, pitching the vial straight might even work better in this case. Unless it's just a neutral American strain, then go with what Brulosopher said. (probably still ok, but starter preferred)

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basilchef

Recipes 

Extra light dme. It will keep the color lighter for your style. Never tried lme before. The lme is prob for your recipe. You should just snag a # from you lhbs tmro.

Brulosopher

Recipes 

Most folks do use a lighter DME for making starters, I prefer Pils DME myself. Since your kit was likely designed with no starter in mind, it would be most prudent for you to either ditch the starter this round (as previously mentioned, lower OG and the fact you're making a hefe reduces the necessity for a starter), or run to your lhbs for some DME. What kind of yeast are you using anyway? And what is the expected OG of the recipe?

Cheers, pal!

__________________


Easiest Method for Harvesting Clean Yeast

Keezer/Kegerator Build

Recipes Worth Brewing... Over and Over and Over Again:
Tiny Bottom Pale Ale (House Pale Ale)- Sessionable, crisp, earthy/floral
Brulosopher's Dark Brown Ale - Creamy, subtly complex, incredibly quaffable
Brulosopher's Blonde Ale - Crisp, dry, nice malt-hop balance

"The surest way to corrupt a youth is to instruct him to hold in higher esteem those who think alike than those who think differently." - FN

TheMerkle

Recipes 

+1

ffaoe

Recipes 

the only time i ever do not make a starter is if the yeast is a blend

TheMerkle

Recipes 

Why is that? I've never heard that before.

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Empty :(
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Bell's Two Hearted Clone
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True Brew APA kit
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Belgian Strong Dark