BrewN42
New Member
My lovely assistant and I will be crafting our 1st brew today from a Midwest supplies kit (Irish Stout). We activated our Wyeast (1084 Irish Ale) a couple of days ago. After a ponderous bit of reading it has been suggested (mainly John Palmer) that even with a liquid yeast, one should create a yeast starter. Unfortunately, we do not have any dry malt extract for a yeast starter as our resident home brew supply shop was snowed in yesterday. I have 2 questions that I was hoping someone could help with; a) is a yeast starter really important if brewing with a liquid yeast and, b) if it is, is there a substitute nutrient (ie - a touch of malt extract, hint of sugar, etc...). Thanks, any suggestions would help to allay a newbies apprehension. Bottoms up!