should I bother

I recently posted a thread asking about my next brew. I ordered an amber bock from ahb. It was suggested to make a starter. I have an idea now of what it is, but still have questions. This is my first lager, all my others have been extract ale's. I never used a starter before. They all seemed to do well. The most recent a red ale started fermenting in 12 hours or less. Is a starter neccesary for lagers, or just a good idea. If I make one do I add all of it (2 liters to a gallon) it to my 5 gallon batch when it goes in to the primary?

Because lagers are fermented cold (50 degrees-ish), it's really important to make a large starter. A good resource for pitching is on mrmalty.com- there is a pitching calculator on there.

When I make lagers, I usually make the starter about four days in advance, then add another batch of cooled fresh wort the next day. This is called "stepping up" the starter. That is, I make a pint of water and 1/2 cup DME starter wort, cool it, and pitch it. I put some sanitized foil on the top, and shake it often. After a day, I do it again. Make another 1.040 starter wort (same amount- a pint of water to 1/2 cup DME), cool it, and add it. When that ferments out, I chill the wort. Two days later, I decant the spent wort (the yeast all falls to the bottom), and bring it up to 48 degrees by taking it out of the fridge about an hour before I want it. I then pitch the 48 degree yeast into 50 degree wort. That gives me a nice healthy start, as well as gets rid of that oxidized warm fermented beer from the starter.

To quote marshman "Thanks Yooperbrew--you're the man!"

When it comes to lagers, just ask Yooper. I bow to her superior knowledge.


The Mets beat the Brewers in 10 innings tonight

I'm not one to dissagree with The Yooper Brewer...He's the Man!....Er...Um.....WO- MAN!

I'm glad I'm in good hands here.