Yeast starter - how long till ready?

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jethro55

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I did a yeast starter yesterday with dry pack of Danstar Belle Siason. Used 2 quarts of 1.04 wort.

The plan was to pitch it tomorrow. It has done fine so far and is slowing down, krausen dropping. But is still bubbling. Tomorrow would put it at about the 40 hour point.
Is this enough time? Or do I need to wait for complete clearing?
 
24 - 48 hours is usually ideal. It's best to pitch while the starter is actively fermenting. You should be golden!
 
jethro55 said:
I did a yeast starter yesterday with dry pack of Danstar Belle Siason. Used 2 quarts of 1.04 wort.

The plan was to pitch it tomorrow. It has done fine so far and is slowing down, krausen dropping. But is still bubbling. Tomorrow would put it at about the 40 hour point.
Is this enough time? Or do I need to wait for complete clearing?

FYI, it is not necessary to make a starter with dry yeast:)
 
24 - 48 hours is usually ideal. It's best to pitch while the starter is actively fermenting. You should be golden!

Thanks for the reply! This is my first starter....moving forward to the refined methods.....slowly but surely. The Beersmith does not list this one, but it does indicate that a starter is called for on just about every brew - else multiple packs for fermentation by the science.

I figure that it is a good way to farm the various yeasts for future use. And this article by the Brulosopher shows how to do that: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/entries/yeast-harvesting-novel-approach.html

yeaststarter.jpg
 
Thanks for the reply! This is my first starter....moving forward to the refined methods.....slowly but surely. The Beersmith does not list this one, but it does indicate that a starter is called for on just about every brew - else multiple packs for fermentation by the science.

I figure that it is a good way to farm the various yeasts for future use. And this article by the Brulosopher shows how to do that: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/entries/yeast-harvesting-novel-approach.html


Couple things. It is actually bad for the yeast to make a yeast starter with Dry yeast is what I have been told because the yeast is in optimum state when it is dehydrated in each pack. Dry yeast has way more cells in each pack than liquid yeast, and it is much cheaper. So if you need more, just buy another pack.

Also, I see you have an airlock on the starter. It is better to either get a foam stopper or just use aluminum foil, as you actually want oxygen to get into the starter so the yeast multiplies which only occurs in the presence of oxygen.
 
Couple things. It is actually bad for the yeast to make a yeast starter with Dry yeast is what I have been told because the yeast is in optimum state when it is dehydrated in each pack. Dry yeast has way more cells in each pack than liquid yeast, and it is much cheaper. So if you need more, just buy another pack.

Also, I see you have an airlock on the starter. It is better to either get a foam stopper or just use aluminum foil, as you actually want oxygen to get into the starter so the yeast multiplies which only occurs in the presence of oxygen.

Got it. And thanks for the tip. Beersmith is calling for way more cells - not sure if it is valid. Am thinking more about free yeast for future brews. Cost savings seem big.
 
Got it. And thanks for the tip. Beersmith is calling for way more cells - not sure if it is valid. Am thinking more about free yeast.

I would try MRMalty.com for yeast starters, it is a little more intuitive than Beer Smith. I also have Beer Smith and I know one thing it does is automatically sets the packaging date of the yeast extremely far back. You can see this if you double click the yeast item in your ingredient list and check the date. I know at least with liquid yeast, the viability drops tremendously after a couple months so you have to up the starter size. I know dry yeast lasts a lot longer but it may be set a couple years back in Beer Smith by default. I think you have to set this every time you add the item.

http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html <----Mr Malty yeast calc.
 
I do starters for dry yeast most of the time now. I never understood why not to. Is it not just basically turning dry yeast in to liquid yeast and increasing cell count and thus decreasing lag time? I dont see a drawback to it and you can verify yeast vitality prior to pitching. Just my thoughts though. It may not be necessary but I dont see where it hurts anything and may actually help?
 
I do starters for dry yeast most of the time now. I never understood why not to. Is it not just basically turning dry yeast in to liquid yeast and increasing cell count and thus decreasing lag time? I dont see a drawback to it and you can verify yeast vitality prior to pitching. Just my thoughts though. It may not be necessary but I dont see where it hurts anything and may actually help?

I think the main reason is because of the state the yeast is dehydrated in, which is the optimal state of the yeast. I'm sure its not a huge problem either way but you are just introducing unnecessary infection risk. The yeast is almost just as cheap to buy another pack as making a starter, so why not just buy 2 packs if needed?

Also 1 dry yeast pack has 220 billion cells, which is more than sufficient for 90% of brews.
 
With dry yeast it is best to just rehydrate.

First there are lot more cells in a dry pack
Second extra packs are cheaper to buy than making a starter
Third, making a starter deletes all the nutrient reserves the manufacturer has already incorporated into the pack

There is explanation of all this on the mrmalty site:)
 
The reason I do it is because my main fermentation takes off fast if the yeast is already active and working. The decrease in lag time is huge. Pitching dry it takes around 6-8 hours before anything noticeable and with the starter its 1-2 hours usually. I think it makes a noticeable difference in my final product. It may be in my head. Im not saying to do it, I just dont see a drawback to doing it.
 
What's the SG on the beer you're going to be brewing?

This one is a 1.062 OG.

The advantage is that I can save some for the next time that I want to use the strain. The disadvantage seems to be that nutrients additives may be needed. Not sure if they are needed for liquid yeasts. I remember reading something that indicates that many all grain worts have the needed nutrients.

Cost of a dry pack is $5.50. For two packs, that is approx half the batch cost. If I save some from a starter, the cost is saved.
 
This one is a 1.062 OG.

The advantage is that I can save some for the next time that I want to use the strain. The disadvantage seems to be that nutrients additives may be needed. Not sure if they are needed for liquid yeasts. I remember reading something that indicates that many all grain worts have the needed nutrients.

Cost of a dry pack is $5.50. For two packs, that is approx half the batch cost. If I save some from a starter, the cost is saved.

At 1.062 a starter isn't needed with dry yeast and if you want to "save" some look into yeast washing. You can reuse the yeast a couple times by racking the beer off the yeast cake and washing it before it goes bad
 
I concur not making a starter with dry yeast. As mentioned the yeast are dried essentially at high kreusen so they are all built up and ready to get back to it. I would reccomend using a product such as go-ferm to aid in the rehydration, it is designed for that process. It helps revival of them
 
At 1.062 a starter isn't needed with dry yeast and if you want to "save" some look into yeast washing. You can reuse the yeast a couple times by racking the beer off the yeast cake and washing it before it goes bad

Agreed, anything up to a 6 gallon 1.062 batch would do fine with 1 pack.
 
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