yeast starter for high grav

first batch turned out PERFECT btw (fattireclone). doing my starter today for the dbl ipa monday. my question: do i need to make a high grav starter or a reg of 1.040 be fine? will the change in osmotic pressure be too much? im doing a 3qt starter w 8oz DME..should i do 2.5qt w 8oz DME for starter as to not shock yeast when pitched?

I have never had a problem using my normal yeast starter for even huge beers. What OG are you aiming for?
White labs actually recommends(and I have done this with incredible success) fermenting the wort in stages. For example:

Brew 3 gallons of a medium beer, 1.050 lets say, the first day. After fermentation has been under way(I waited 3 days) you add 1 gallon of fiercely concentrated wort, maybe twice as high as your target OG was. Let that ferment (you can even aerate at every addition with no oxidation if you want, but I didn't) and add another gallon of super wort the next day.

This isn't exactly word for word their directions, but I got a yeast to actually exceed it's supposed alcohol tolerance by 34% or so with this method.

My recently brewed ale had an OG of 1.061 and fermented down to 1.014 in 7 days with no starter
The yeast was Wyeast 1272

What is your projected OG? That will help a lot.

Drunkensatyr said:

What is your projected OG? That will help a lot.

Click to expand...

havent looked at recipe sheet that came w kit (states what OG should be on it). i know recipe calls for it too finish at 9.5-10%. yeast is whiteLabs cali ale. i went ahead and made the starter a lil higher--didnt want the yeast to get shocked. check out these quotes from the following links and you might understand my confusion:

http://maltosefalcons.com/tech/MB_Raines_Guide_to_Yeast_Culturing.php
"If pitching into a high gravity wort, a standard starter may get shocked from the change in osmotic pressure. In this case a higher gravity starter (O.G. =1.065) may be necessary."

http://www.mrmalty.com/starter_faq.htm
"Yeast don’t get used to a high gravity environment, and the high osmotic pressure can really stress the yeast."