How to make a yeast starter - Pictorial

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I came home today to find two fruit flys in my starter which was covered by foil. My question is... Is there any way to save this yeast or should I just cut my losses. Thanks for any help you can give me.

I would dump it. Fruit flies turned one of my beers into vinegar. I don't see how you would kill the bacteria that's in there.
 
Thats why people shouldn't use foil. I always use a airlock, never had a single problem before.
 
pola0502ds said:
Thats why people shouldn't use foil. I always use a airlock, never had a single problem before.

I use one of those foam stoppers on my flask and it works great. That would keep the flies out while still letting filtered air back in.
 
+1 on the foam stopper. I dunk mine in StarSan water squeeze it out really well and plug it in the flask.

I also wanted to add my two cents on krausen formation on a starter. I've seen a bunch of people who mention getting little or no krausen forming. I've made 4 different ones now, with 3 different kinds of yeast - I have yet to see any significant krausen formation. Just some CO2 bubbles in suspension and a layer of yeast forming up on the bottom.

Also, I saw someone mention before mention this, but be careful swirling! I had an explosion on my first starter when I picked it up and swirled it too vigorously. What a sticky mess!

BTW, I've been following the starter recipe from Northern Brewer:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/YeastStarter.pdf
 
redshift said:
+1 on the foam stopper. I dunk mine in StarSan water squeeze it out really well and plug it in the flask.

I also wanted to add my two cents on krausen formation on a starter. I've seen a bunch of people who mention getting little or no krausen forming. I've made 4 different ones now, with 3 different kinds of yeast - I have yet to see any significant krausen formation. Just some CO2 bubbles in suspension and a layer of yeast forming up on the bottom.

Also, I saw someone mention before mention this, but be careful swirling! I had an explosion on my first starter when I picked it up and swirled it too vigorously. What a sticky mess!

BTW, I've been following the starter recipe from Northern Brewer:
http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/YeastStarter.pdf

How did u get a explosion? Unless you had the top completely covered with no way for co2 to escape.
 
Just my .02 I use foam stoppers also with a borsiliate 2l flask so I do my dme/water boil right in the flask. point being I put my foam stopper on top while boiling my starter and it steam sanitizes the foam stopper which is the way the guy at Northern Brewer taught me to do it. seems to work out just fine.
 
Thats a good idea. Whats the deal with the foam stoppers? I've never used or seen them before? Some how let air out but not back in?
 
Thats a good idea. Whats the deal with the foam stoppers? I've never used or seen them before? Some how let air out but not back in?
no they do let air back in though the micro " bee hive " that the foam has going on prevents bacteria from being able to navigate to the starter.
 
So I am just getting back into brewing, after a year or so break during which point I got a couple of all grain recipe kits. The yeast has been sitting in the fridge. How big of a chance is it that it is dead? I understand I could do a starter to test it, but I don't think I have any dry malt extract, and I'd hate to get stuck with a wort and no good yeast!
Note: the yeast is between six months and a year old probably and I have both dry and smack packs.
 
So I am just getting back into brewing, after a year or so break during which point I got a couple of all grain recipe kits. The yeast has been sitting in the fridge. How big of a chance is it that it is dead? I understand I could do a starter to test it, but I don't think I have any dry malt extract, and I'd hate to get stuck with a wort and no good yeast!
Note: the yeast is between six months and a year old probably and I have both dry and smack packs.

There is very little chance that you have any viable liquid yeast left. I plugged in the numbers on the Mr Malty pitching calculator and after 1 year it only shows 1% of the yeast being viable. The only way to know for sure is to make a starter but I wouldn't bother if it were me. I would just get some new yeast for piece of mind and make a starter from that if needed. The dry yeast should still be fine but only shows 68% viability after 1 year.
 
I would make a starter, if you can find a LHBS near you and get some DME. Else, just buy a new package of yeast. New yeast and DME will be within a couple dollars of each other, no extra time though!!

Flip side to that coin, I used year old yeasts before with great results. Don't let the expiration date make you lose hope. Bad yeast (non-viable yeast from a sealed package) will not ruin or make your beer taste bad, just no fermentation. Remember they are multipling anyway, 1% of a million/billion is still alot of viable yeast cells. They will get going, it just may take awhile. Make your batch, use your dry, and order new yeast same day. If the dry takes off, you got a great reason to brew another batch in the very near future!!!

Side Bar- I have used a very fresh vial of white labs (no starter) on a belgian double that took a week to get going, then exploded (not literally) into a fermentation frenzy... still baffles me to this day, but it tasted amazing....

Good luck!BigJoe
 
+1 on the foam stopper. I dunk mine in StarSan water squeeze it out really well and plug it in the flask.

I also wanted to add my two cents on krausen formation on a starter. I've seen a bunch of people who mention getting little or no krausen forming. I've made 4 different ones now, with 3 different kinds of yeast - I have yet to see any significant krausen formation. Just some CO2 bubbles in suspension and a layer of yeast forming up on the bottom.

Also, I saw someone mention before mention this, but be careful swirling! I had an explosion on my first starter when I picked it up and swirled it too vigorously. What a sticky mess
Sorry, this was posted by redshift-not sure how to correctly quote...


+1 on covering it with aluminium foil for me. no san needed, no extra steps! if you a 2000ml flask a little 7"X7" square is perfect, put it on before you boil, no worries!

I have seen a little krausen (more like a small layer of foam, not the same consistency/color as krausening) on my starters. I use a stir plate for 24 hours, then just let the yeast sit(no stir) for about 2-6 hours before pitching. During that settling time, the foam appears, about a quarter inch-no very dense like a krausen. Maybe its that co2 escaping like you had on your exploding starter!!
Just my .02
 
So i made two seperate yeast starters. One of them when I shake it it foams. The other one very little to none, is this OK?
 
i thought this picture might help out some newbies....

Nice post, wonder why it's not stickied... I've looked for it a couple times but you get a "few" results if you use the key words "yeast" and "starter", especially since I generally start by searching the "Yeast and Fermentation" subforum... Won't have trouble finding it now!
:mug:

Mals
 
I made a starter last night and put on the air lock. I filled the air lock to high and i dont think it was able to bubble. I have been swirling it as much as i can.

Is the yeast ok even if it wasnt able to burp out the CO2? I assume it just leaked out of the jar in other spots as the seal was improvised ant not 100% tight.
 
MikeyLXT said:
I made a starter last night and put on the air lock. I filled the air lock to high and i dont think it was able to bubble. I have been swirling it as much as i can.

Is the yeast ok even if it wasnt able to burp out the CO2? I assume it just leaked out of the jar in other spots as the seal was improvised ant not 100% tight.

No airlock. Use sanitized foil or foam stopper.
 
Not a fan of the mrmalty site - I'm sure I'll be drawn & quartered, but 3.6L is like a GALLON - I'm not adding a gallon of yeast to 5 gallons of wort.
(sometimes with the stir bar :eek:)

A lot of misinformation in this thread and misunderstanding on how to use the Mr. Malty calculator, and the variables/parameters in making a starter.

I think it's already been mentioned that there are some beer style that you want to "underpitch" a bit (e.g. hefe), so as to accentuate the yeast flavor production. BUT the 3.6L starter for a 1.072 OG mentioned above is for a simple set-and-forget starter. I don't think anyone taking the time to make a starter would want to settle for this method. Just intermediate shaking reduces the amount dramatically to 2L--continuous aeration even less. If you use a stir plate, the volume is reduced to just over 1L.

Reading the articles "Fourteen Essential Questions About Yeast Starters" and "Proper Yeast Pitching Rates" on the Mr. Malty site could replace this thread almost entirely. Also, the calculator is a tool for suggested pitching rates. Reading the articles educating yourself on how to better appropriate the suggestion offered will go a long way.
:mug:
 
Bierliebhaber said:
Just intermediate shaking reduces the amount dramatically to 2L--continuous aeration even less. If you use a stir plate, the volume is reduced to just over 1L.

So does this mean, since there is a higher concentration of yeast we can use smaller starters?
 
So does this mean, since there is a higher concentration of yeast we can use smaller starters?

Yes. The goal is yeast count (population), not starter volume. The various methods produce different results in yeast propagation. Different environmental variables affect the extent of propagation. Leaving the yeast to themselves, the growth phase will end much sooner (the yeast growth is dependant upon wort volume) and the yeast will begin to ferment the starter (i.e. convert sugar to alchohol). With aggitation (intermediate shaking or stir plate), the yeast will remain in their growth phase longer, because 1) the removal of co2, which inhibits yeast growth; 2) the introduction of more o2, which contributes to yeast growth; 3) continous suspension/contact with the wort for greater efficiency in yeast growth.

DISCLAIMER: This response is based on my recollection (or lack of). Read the articles. Also, there are some excellent studies out of UC Davis, but can't recall where to find them at the moment.
 
Whoah! Just wanted to let everyone in on my starter experience. I poured the sediment from 4 bottles of Bell's Pale Ale into some starter wort in one of the small mason jars. A few days later I cold crashed and decanted the first round and pitched the leftovers into a larger mason jar. Today I cold crashed and pitched all the slurry into a 1.89 liter sanitized juice bottle. The thing is going crazy now! Krausen and all. I'm excited about pitching this stuff into my Two Hearted clone tomorrow.
 
Whoah! Just wanted to let everyone in on my starter experience. I poured the sediment from 4 bottles of Bell's Pale Ale into some starter wort in one of the small mason jars. A few days later I cold crashed and decanted the first round and pitched the leftovers into a larger mason jar. Today I cold crashed and pitched all the slurry into a 1.89 liter sanitized juice bottle. The thing is going crazy now! Krausen and all. I'm excited about pitching this stuff into my Two Hearted clone tomorrow.

Very nice. You let the yeasties be the happy little reproductive guys nature intended them to be and they flourished in a healthy environment. Good lesson to us all :)
 
Whoah! Just wanted to let everyone in on my starter experience. I poured the sediment from 4 bottles of Bell's Pale Ale into some starter wort in one of the small mason jars. A few days later I cold crashed and decanted the first round and pitched the leftovers into a larger mason jar. Today I cold crashed and pitched all the slurry into a 1.89 liter sanitized juice bottle. The thing is going crazy now! Krausen and all. I'm excited about pitching this stuff into my Two Hearted clone tomorrow.


bells pale ale bottles? Do you mean you now have the same yeast bells used in that pale ale? That is really cool if thats what you meant.
 
I am brewing Hefeweizen Ale. It is an extract kit with all LME and liquid Yeast(White Labs 300). Was planning on making a starter but no DME
in kit. Can you make a starter using LME.
This is my 4th brew ever and I have never made a starter.
 
Ken1010 said:
I am brewing Hefeweizen Ale. It is an extract kit with all LME and liquid Yeast(White Labs 300). Was planning on making a starter but no DME
in kit. Can you make a starter using LME.
This is my 4th brew ever and I have never made a starter.

Sure. Just make your starter wort 1.040.
 
I was going to say 4oz by weight to a quart. I dont know what that works out to in volume. It's best to measure you malt by weight. But I think you would be fine with a pint starter: 2oz of LME to a pint. I can't be sure and it's rather rough, but I think that works out to be 1/4 cup LME to 2 cups water. For a hefe, you just want to ensure the viability of your yeast. A small starter and you're good to go. Wlp 300 is a vigorous fermenter and a little underpitch will help bring out the hefe flavors, as well as a warm ferment (68-70F)...that means pitching at 65F.
 
Does it REALLY matter how soon make or how long you let your start sit before you use it?

I hear people say make and use within 36-48? I don't get it, making a starter is just like making beer. All your doing is "harvesting" the yeast from your starter. I would like to make my starters a week a head of time.

Any problem with that?
 
Does it REALLY matter how soon make or how long you let your start sit before you use it?

I hear people say make and use within 36-48? I don't get it, making a starter is just like making beer. All your doing is "harvesting" the yeast from your starter. I would like to make my starters a week a head of time.

Any problem with that?
Could be wrong but if you wait a week the yeast will process all sugars in that time then they will go dormant after all energy is used up. I believe you still want the yeast to be active so they don't go back into the adaptive stage if they're active they will just go straight into using the sugars in your wort which is what you want.
 
See, thats my point. Say you brewed a batch a beer and fermented it out. After you rack you wash the yeast and use that for the next batch. At that point the yeast is still dormant? People wash and use yeast from previous batches all the time.
 
See, thats my point. Say you brewed a batch a beer and fermented it out. After you rack you wash the yeast and use that for the next batch. At that point the yeast is still dormant? People wash and use yeast from previous batches all the time.
yes they do but you need to make a starter from the washed yeast .... hence you are bringing it back up to speed you shouldn't just pitch washed yeast it's not as viable.
 
Fwiw, the searches I did on the same subject I found there was no problem doing a starter ahead of time.

There are a ton of threads on this site answering that very question.
 
has any bunny tried making a yeast starter with wort? I have and alls i did was: take out one cup of wort after it came to boil, then let it cool, add the yeast to that cup and finally after the wort did its full boil and cooled i added the starter. Fermentation was vigorous
after just 8 hours.

Making a starter with hops included can help the yeast "acclimate"
 
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