First time Liquid Yeats User - Questions about Starter

Hey all,

I should have read up more on using liquid yeast before I started brewing this morning but I didn't. Sigh. Anyway I'm using White Labs London Ale Yeast for a stout I'm making. I put it in the fridge and now that my boil is going I read up on doing starters and see you're supposed to let the yeast sit and multiply for 24 hours or more?

What should I do? Just do a starter and let it sit for a couple hours then pitch? Pitch from the vial with no starter? Airlock the wort and pitch tomorrow? when it's fully ready?

I'm doing an extract partial boil for a 5 gallon batch.

Also, side note, when splitting my wort to two kettles for better boiling I forgot to add half my 9 pounds of DME (after steeping but before boiling and hop additions). I was going to add it all in after I combined the two pots after boiling was done. What will that do to my beer?

Thanks!
Mark

Adding the DME late will be fine. Many brewers deliberately add half or more of their extract late - or after the boil to reduce caramelization.

You'll get different opinions on this, but I'd make your starter and pitch after a few hours. It will be more of a "wake up" for the yeast than a true starter, but I don't like leaving the wort unpitched for too long.

What's your OG? You might be able to get away with just pitching the vial.

Welcome!

MarkIafrate said:

Hey all,

I should have read up more on using liquid yeast before I started brewing this morning but I didn't. Sigh. Anyway I'm using White Labs London Ale Yeast for a stout I'm making. I put it in the fridge and now that my boil is going I read up on doing starters and see you're supposed to let the yeast sit and multiply for 24 hours or more?

What should I do? Just do a starter and let it sit for a couple hours then pitch? Pitch from the vial with no starter? Airlock the wort and pitch tomorrow? when it's fully ready?

I'm doing an extract partial boil for a 5 gallon batch.

Click to expand...

You can pitch without a starter, it won't hurt it per se, it will just take longer for the yeast to get active. My first 3 brews i did without starters and they came out great. Just take your vial out of the fridge, let it warm up to room temp and give it a good shake. If you see some tiny bubbles in there you have active yeast so you can pitch it as is.

Doing that, you'll want to give your brew at least 1 extra week in primary and one or two extra in secondary (if you are doing a secondary) or give it at least 2 extra weeks in primary if you aren't going to rack it to secondary. The extra time will let the yeast clean up after themselves and remove most of the off flavors that may occur from a small pitch rate.

Also, side note, when splitting my wort to two kettles for better boiling I forgot to add half my 9 pounds of DME (after steeping but before boiling and hop additions). I was going to add it all in after I combined the two pots after boiling was done. What will that do to my beer?

Thanks!
Mark

Click to expand...

Actually doing a partial boil it's often best to keep part of your extract out until flame out as it will help to minimize burning and over-darkening of the wort.

Just add your remaining DME at flame out and mix really well, flavor should come out beautifully.

Thanks so much for the advice guys! I took a gravity reading just now - and wow! Looks like it's sitting at 1.11? Crazy. I was going to put an airlock on the wort while the yeast warmed up for another hour or so. Then aerate like crazy. Then shake yeast and directly pitch.

I'm doing a chocolate raspberry stout. So instead of primary for a week I'll do 10-12 days (maybe 14 days) and then do secondary (cocoa nibs and raspberries) for 2.5-3 weeks. Then bottle.

How's all that sound?

Mark

Thanks so much for the advice guys! I took a gravity reading just now - and wow! Looks like it's sitting at 1.11? Crazy. I was going to put an airlock on the wort while the yeast warmed up for another hour or so. Then aerate like crazy. Then shake yeast and directly pitch.

I'm doing a chocolate raspberry stout. So instead of primary for a week I'll do 10-12 days (maybe 14 days) and then do secondary (cocoa nibs and raspberries) for 2.5-3 weeks. Then bottle.

How's all that sound?

Mark

Are you making beer or wine? That's a darn high OG. I think you should double check that, because that doesn't seem right at all. And if it is correct, which I highly doubt, one vial is severly underpitching.

Well it would be tough for me to be more frustrated right now. I was going to check the gravity again and the hydrometer fell on the countertop and broke. Brew store is closed of course, so I have no idea where to get one. I took a sample and plan on keeping it in the fridge until Tuesday when I can get a new one.

I may have accidentally taken the sample before I topped off the wort to 5 gallons. Here is my recipe:

1 White Labs London Ale Yeast WLP013 (liquid yeast)
9.00 lb. Light DME
0.50 lb. Crystal 40L (steeping grains)
1.50 lb. Chocolate malt (steeping grains)
0.25 lb. Flaked oats (steeping grains)
1 Whirfloc Tablet
0.65 oz. Magnum 14.7% AA Hops (bittering, added at beginning of boil)

Thoughts?

You're cool. Should have a gravity between 1.055 - 1.060 with a recipe like that. One vial will be ok, not optimal, but ok.

Ok I'm going to be pitching soon. I took a decent sample of the wort and will test it on Tuesday to see what it is once I get a new hydrometer. Fingers crossed this all works. I guess I'll pour a Founders Breakfast Stout to calm the nerves....

Sorry for double posting. I got a new hydrometer and the OG is 1.087-1.088. Thanks to everyone for the help!