Help! Please..

I smacked my wyeast pack last night and planned on making my starter tonight. However, I think my wife chucked my DME starter! Would it make a huge difference if I use the DME that came with the kit to make my starter???? Ack!!

Not sure how clear my question was. The DME that came with the Belgium Abbey Ale kit from Northern B. Can I use some if that for the yeast starter?

yeah you can do that your final brew will just be a little weaker than expected - if anything you might lose a point from your gravities

Does the kit say to make a starter? Is your OG > 1.050?

Yes..1.062 OG... I used 1/4 cup of the DME from the kit..but if I pour all of it in as a starter will I lose much ABV?

I don't think you will.

Sweet. Thanks..had me caught in a rock and a hard place. 1. Smacked Yeast early to make starter..but possibly to long (2 1/2 days till brew day) to let sit without some dying. 2. No home brew shop within 60 miles. 3. Only DME on hand was from the kit. Lesson learned.

Are you using a stirplate, or just shaking as often as you can. This will make a big difference in the size of your starter.

You can pitch the whole starter which will lessen the drop in your abv. But, you are making a starter which is not ideal for tastes. If it is a stirplate/small starter it won't make much difference. It it is a large starter the off flavors in the starter might transfer to the beer.

There is a Goya product, a malt or some kind that you can get at grocery stores to make starters in a pinch.

Weeezle007 said:

I think my wife chucked my DME starter!!

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Get yourself a 6 pack of this from the grocery store and store it away for a rainy day. You can make starters from it just like DME..

You can also use barley syrup from a health food store, or maybe even a regular supermarket may have it. It is basically liquid malt extract.

Awesome!! Yea, I have a home made stirrer. Used 2 cups water 1/4 cup DME.

you don't need a starter.

brewski08 said:

you don't need a starter.

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Brewski is right. You don't NEED a starter. You don't need an airlock or sanitizer or an auto-syphon either. Unless you want to make better beer of course....

bleme said:

Brewski is right. You don't NEED a starter. You don't need an airlock or sanitizer or an auto-syphon either. Unless you want to make better beer of course....

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a starter for a beginner brewer with an OG of 1.062 will provide as much benefit to his beer as a secondary fermentation vessel. it will provide for a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very small contribution to his beer (if any)--assuming he doesn't over pitch. in no way is a starter for a beer this size anywhere near comparable to sanitization and oxidation control.

the home brewing community really needs to stop preaching these arguably useless processes to beginning brewers as it needlessly complicates the process and scares them away from one of the greatest hobbies in the world.

Weezle007, if you truly appreciate the use of a yeast starter, by all means i think you should do it. i am simply stating that i, as well as many others, have been able to make great, fully attenuated beer with much higher OGs and no off flavors/aromas without the use of a yeast starter.

I was just trying to follow the instructions listed on the site. I will admit, however, to making a starter for a Bavarian Hefe that definately didnt need it, and the more I read about Hefe's can be easily overpitched.

http://www.northernbrewer.com/twostagecold/

Thanks for all the great advice and help!!! Great support forums!