Major Impulse buy...HELP!!! Lol

So a new brew store opened up near my house that also happens to serve and sell bottled and draft craft beer. After a few pints I decided that it was time for a new hobby and walked out with a Deluxe starter kit and a Belgian Tripel recipe pack from BrewcraftUSA. Reading the instructions a few times and getting acclimated with the tools and ingredients I decided to come here and ask some questions. what is a starter when it comes to yeast? the kit comes with t-58 but I see certain people talking about a starter. so I want to know if I need to make one and how. I have seen that this is going to take a long time to ferment and I'm fine with that but I also noticed people talking about "blowoff" is the airlock that came in the kit (6.5) going to be enough to release the pressure or do I have to use something else. Thanks for any advise/help you can give... I cant wait to get started!

Many, if not all, of your questions are answered in this sticky.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/faq-please-read-before-asking-question-7909/#post74765

A starter is just away to take the yeast that you purchase and give it a place to reproduce and grow more yeast cells before adding to your beer wort.

The reason for this is that a lot of folks believe that for best beer fermentation, you need to have an optimal number of yeast cells to start with. This is particularly true with a strong ale like a Belgian Tripel, since there is a lot of sugars to ferment and the yeast have a big job ahead of them.

Also,starters are mostly used with liquid yeasts. Dry yeasts are best rehydrated. Boil 2C of water in a small saucepan for a couple minutes to evaporate the chlorine. Then pour it in a glass measuring cup or the like. & cover/cool to 80-90F. Stir in yeast & let sit for 20-30 minutes. Bring rehydrated yeast's temp down to within 10 degrees of current wort temp before stirring & pitching. This will leep the yeast healthy & prevent shocking them.

Don't make it more complicated than it has to be...you can do more after you get a few batches under your belt.

Just follow the kits instructions.

unionrdr said:

Also,starters are mostly used with liquid yeasts. Dry yeasts are best rehydrated. Boil 2C of water in a small saucepan for a couple minutes to evaporate the chlorine. Then pour it in a glass measuring cup or the like. & cover/cool to 80-90F. Stir in yeast & let sit for 20-30 minutes. Bring rehydrated yeast's temp down to within 10 degrees of current wort temp before stirring & pitching. This will leep the yeast healthy & prevent shocking them.

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This.

If it's a really high OG wort (anything over 1.060), rehydrate two packs of T-58 dry yeast and pitch.

There are legitimate reasons (unionrdr or I can go into more detail if you like) as to why it's not a good idea to make a starter with dry yeast. With liquid, certainly do a starter.

If you don't want to wait that long for that triple, there are simple kits/recipes that can be ready for you to drink in about a month, like a pale, wheat, hefe etc. you could brew up the triple, then another one right after while you wait for your triple to be ready.

An easy blow off is just putting your racking tube in the hole of your primary bucket. Put the other end in a gallon jug of sanitized water. I've never had a problem with blow of, even with all my big beers.

Btw, get ready, because this is a fun addiction! I'll be drinking some homebrew tonight, and tomorrow!
Read everything you can on here. The answers to all your questions are somewhere. Good luck !

Thanks everyone for the great responses... I think it just turned into brew night! got some fresh growlers from Great South Bay Brewery so I'm gonna get sterlilzing.

Good luck and welcome to the addiction!!!! Every day can be a home brew day from now on. Be patient and use your head and your results will be outstanding. Every batch has a possibility of failing, but they akso have the possibility of being an award winner, so be patient and enjoy the time you spend building some great home brews.

Wheelchair Bob

Johnnyboy789 said:

Thanks everyone for the great responses... I think it just turned into brew night! got some fresh growlers from Great South Bay Brewery so I'm gonna get sterlilzing.

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Fyi, don't use the growlers for bottling, the pressure could cause the bottom to give out. So I've read.

The 'hardest' part is cleaning and sanitizing, it's all easy after that.