First Lager Starter

I’ll be brewing a PM Schwarzbier on Saturday afternoon.

On Monday night, I made a 1 liter starter w/ Wyeast Munich Lager.
On Wednesday night, I stepped up the starter to half gallon size. It got crazy in less than an hour.

Should I add another half gallon of wort tonight and crash it Friday evening? If I crash it before it finishes out will it cause problems?

Also, I forgot to add the nutrients, should I do that next step up OR just put it in at the end of the boil?

I know it’s not the prime strain for a Schwarzbier, but it’s what the guy @ LHBS gave me when I asked for the WL830, which they don’t carry.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Well, maybe too late on this, but I make lager starters a week or more in advance. It takes that long to step them up and properly crash them. Plus I like to ferment my lager starters on the cold side. If I make it closer to brew day, I'll usually just pitch the whole thing (2L/5gal.) and not worry about crashing.

If you added the other half gallon last night, I'd crash it ASAP and as cold as you can without freezing (maybe 29°F). It won't cause any problems crashing before it's finished. If you do crash it, don't forget you have to warm it up closer to pitching temps before pitching... so I would decant first, then warm up. That way the yeast don't start fermenting again and become suspended before you decant.

It would have been good to add yeast nutrients to the starter, but a PM really shouldn't need it because there are plenty of nutrients in the grain. Can't hurt though.

Excellent, thanks for the info.

I did add another half gallon last night (forgot nutrient), and I've already left the house for the day. I'll get it outside to crash as soon as I get home. If I have to pitch later in the day on Saturday, so be it.

I meant to get started on it last Saturday, but we went to a beer fest before the LHBS and... Well we never made it there.

You can ferment lager starters at room temp without problems.

Go here for suggestions on how much you should pitch: Mr Malty Pitching Rate Calculator

Good luck!