First attempt at a yeast starter

So I'm attempting my second run at a belgian quad that turned out delicious last time. When I got the kit together, my advisor at the brewing store I go to suggested that I should either buy more yeast packs or do a starter. For the first attempt I went the easy/expensive route and just bought yeast packets.

I'm attempting to recreate the beer and so this time I'm trying it with my first yeast starter. So I made a two liter yeast starter and when I went to add it to my beer, I ran into a question. I'm doing extract brewing, and so when I add top off water, do I incorporate the two liters of liquid from the starter into my top off or not? So, basically when I'm done should I have 5 gallons, or 5 gallons + 2 liters?

I couldn't find a quick answer at the time so I assumed that I'd want it to be 5 gallons including the starter. Was I right?

You will want to end up with 5 gallons total for the flavor and IBUs of the recipe. Best would be to chill the starter when it is finished to compact the yeast at the bottom. Pour off almost all of the starter wort, keeping enough to swirl up the compacted yeast for pouring into your fermentor. The starter wort is unhopped and not very tasty.

For a starter that big, I would definitely cold crash the starter and decant most of the spent wort off it. Then you are only pitching a small amount of volume, probably not enough to even worry about.

So if I didn't crash and decant, I'm assuming the downside is that it will have some effect on the flavor?

sterno74 said:

So if I didn't crash and decant, I'm assuming the downside is that it will have some effect on the flavor?

Click to expand...

True but likely you wouldn't notice the difference.

sterno74 said:

So if I didn't crash and decant, I'm assuming the downside is that it will have some effect on the flavor?

Click to expand...

A 2L starter poured in will probably be noticeable. It will definitely affect your ibus and OG as well.

IL1kebeer said:

A 2L starter poured in will probably be noticeable. It will definitely affect your ibus and OG as well.

Click to expand...

Yeah, you gotta figure 2L is about 2 qt or 1/2 gal... So 10% of your total 5 gal volume. You prob won't taste the unhopped starter wort itself, but it'll dilute the calculated flavor your were shooting for. +1 for decanting!

There's many threads on this subject, but suffice to say the flavor contribution of pitched starters is worried about far more than any actual observed problems. If you are worried about it, go ahead and chill it for a few days and decant as described above. I personally pitch the whole thing into most batches without any noticeable ill effect. Do what makes sense to you, but know that off flavors from starters are kind of a boogeyman...

In the end, brewing is a lot of trial and error, so we'll find out if this is an error in another week or two . I will say that the starter definitely got the fermentation going a lot faster than when I used multiple yeast packs. If the flavor is a bit off on this batch, then next time I'll do the chill and decant and see how it goes.

So the part that confuses me is, If I am going to decant the liquid off of a large starter do I have to let it complete fermentation first (3-5 days) then chill and decant the night before brew day? Or can I just make my starter two days before, shaking it every time I pass by, and then toss it in the fridge the night before I brew?

Does that make sense?

-hutch

Flyinghutch said:

So the part that confuses me is, If I am going to decant the liquid off of a large starter do I have to let it complete fermentation first (3-5 days) then chill and decant the night before brew day? Or can I just make my starter two days before, shaking it every time I pass by, and then toss it in the fridge the night before I brew?

Does that make sense?

-hutch

Click to expand...

You fridge it for a few days prior to brew day. On brew day you pull it, decant, mix it up and pitch it

Flyinghutch said:

So the part that confuses me is, If I am going to decant the liquid off of a large starter do I have to let it complete fermentation first (3-5 days) then chill and decant the night before brew day? Or can I just make my starter two days before, shaking it every time I pass by, and then toss it in the fridge the night before I brew?

Does that make sense?

-hutch

Click to expand...

Always let it ferment out completely first. If you shake the starter several times during the day, it will ferment out much faster and you will get a higher yeast count. Better is a stir plate when it will ferment out in a day or day and a half. Then put it in the fridge until you are ready to pitch (let it settle for a day if possible, but you can leave it for 2 or 3 days). Then pour off most of the clear liquid (beer), leaving enough so you can mix the yeast back in and pour it into your wort. Let it get up to room temperature before you pitch it. Since there is a small volume, that should only take an hour or two.

Flyinghutch said:

So the part that confuses me is, If I am going to decant the liquid off of a large starter do I have to let it complete fermentation first (3-5 days) then chill and decant the night before brew day? Or can I just make my starter two days before, shaking it every time I pass by, and then toss it in the fridge the night before I brew?

Does that make sense?

-hutch

Click to expand...

Starters ferment much quicker than full volume beers. More like 24-48 hours tops. I'm brewing this weekend(in 3 days), just did my starter this morning, will put it in the fridge to cold crash on Friday morning(48 hours fermentation).
And I haven't made my stirplate yet. Still looking for that old computer that I KNOW is sitting somewhere up in the attic.

Demus said:

There's many threads on this subject, but suffice to say the flavor contribution of pitched starters is worried about far more than any actual observed problems. If you are worried about it, go ahead and chill it for a few days and decant as described above. I personally pitch the whole thing into most batches without any noticeable ill effect. Do what makes sense to you, but know that off flavors from starters are kind of a boogeyman...

Click to expand...

+1

Chris

I forgot to comment on how this all worked out. The starter really helped and the taste of the beer when all was said and done was probably my best yet. So if there were some "off flavors" they either went well with it or never materialized.

So at least in a big high gravity beer like what I was making, the "chill and decant" step seems to be unnecessary.