1st Attempt at a Starter

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Scooba

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Hey guys! I'm about make my 1st yeast starter but i have a couple of questions first. I also for the first time threw together a recipe on BeerSmith. I'm shooting for a Honey Nut Brown Ale. The software is giving me an OG of 1.067. I plan on doing a 2L starter. My starter kit came with some yeast nutrient. Do I smack the yeast pack or just pour the yeast only? Also, I plan on brewing Thursday afternoon. Is it too early to do the starter tonight(Tuesday)?

Thanks in advance!!
 
If you do not have a stirplate start it now. You should be at or near high krausen for Thursday. Not too early. If anything it should go longer.

I always activate the nutrients in the smack pack and also add a bit of nutrient also. I feel it cannot hurt.
 
i don't mean to be a downer, but you (assuming you are doing a 5 gallon batch) don't want to pitch an entire 2L starter into a batch. That's too high of a starter to wort ratio.

I try to stay around 5% of the total volume max.

The correct way would be to do your starter, cool and decant that liquid off. So if you have already started it, oxygenate that starter until Wednesday night, and then crash cool (in the refrigerator) until a few hours before you need to pitch, decant the liquid to about 900 mL (again assuming 5 gallon batch) and allow to warm to pitching temp.

Ideally, you would give this process more than a couple of days, but you get the picture. It will still work out well!
 
I would recommend starting 1L starter on Wednesday evening. You want to pitch that thing at high krausen. Your yeast don't have a ton of food to eat in that starter. They will be done in no time. Wyeast recommends keeping it under a day.
 
i don't mean to be a downer, but you (assuming you are doing a 5 gallon batch) don't want to pitch an entire 2L starter into a batch. That's too high of a starter to wort ratio.

I try to stay around 5% of the total volume max.

The correct way would be to do your starter, cool and decant that liquid off. So if you have already started it, oxygenate that starter until Wednesday night, and then crash cool (in the refrigerator) until a few hours before you need to pitch, decant the liquid to about 900 mL (again assuming 5 gallon batch) and allow to warm to pitching temp.

Ideally, you would give this process more than a couple of days, but you get the picture. It will still work out well!

I would follow this method but I would decant all of the liquid. To get all of the yeast, I add a little cooled down wort of the brew you just made to your starter, swirl and pitch. There is no way in hell I would add any amount of mL. of starter wort to my beer. Maybe I'm splitting hairs but why add a bunch of crappy starter wort to a specific recipe you may have created when it's not necessary?
Do the starter on Tuesday for a Thursday brew day.
 
So by cool crashing, the yeast separates from the liquid? Is this what decanting involves?
 
Why can't you throw the whole starter mix in the primary? What if it is the same dme as the beer recipe and you calculate the amount in with the recipe?
 
So by cool crashing, the yeast separates from the liquid? Is this what decanting involves?

You got it.
By Wednesday night your starter will be done so then you can stick it in the frig. Bring it out a few hours before you pitch on brew day. All of the yeast will be settled out on the bottom. Dump the clear amberish liquid on top after you remove from the frig and then let it warm up.
 
Why can't you throw the whole starter mix in the primary? What if it is the same dme as the beer recipe and you calculate the amount in with the recipe?

You can do this......if your properly made 1.040 starter happens to match a 1.040 brew you are doing. Most people make larger gravity beers which means you are slightly diluting your beer. It's not a big deal to do that but most people that are formulating their own recipe with precise numbers will not want to mess up the beer with diluted starter wort. Especially when it's not necessary. JMO.
 
You can do this......if your properly made 1.040 starter happens to match a 1.040 brew you are doing. Most people make larger gravity beers which means you are slightly diluting your beer. It's not a big deal to do that but most people that are formulating their own recipe with precise numbers will not want to mess up the beer with diluted starter wort. Especially when it's not necessary. JMO.

So if you are talking about total water, extract, and hops being on target then the answer is "yes". I just don't like to waste something that could be part of my recipe. I was thinking people tossed it because it may affect the fermentation process.
 
So if you are talking about total water, extract, and hops being on target then the answer is "yes". I just don't like to waste something that could be part of my recipe. I was thinking people tossed it because it may affect the fermentation process.

This is your beer. You can do it however you want. If you add a 1L. starter to 20-22 qt. of beer you are only altering it by 5%. So, if you feel better by not wasting your starter then save it. I myself just don't need to save 1-1.5 liters of water and a cup of dme.:)
 
wolverinebrewer said:
This is your beer. You can do it however you want. If you add a 1L. starter to 20-22 qt. of beer you are only altering it by 5%. So, if you feel better by not wasting your starter then save it. I myself just don't need to save 1-1.5 liters of water and a cup of dme.:)

Thanks alot everyone. The starter is done. I did a 1L instead of 2L. Probably gonna decant before I pitch. I'm very thankful for all of the replies!
 
in the future (not saying anything is wrong this time, you will be fine, your starter is better than none) you can use Mrmalty.com to determine how big of a starter you will need in order to obtain the adequate amount of yeast. Good luck on your batch! I sure wish i was brewin' Thursday....:mug:
 
Here's what it looked like this morning. I gave it a good swirl. There are some solid particles floating around at the bottom.

image-1518435893.jpg
 
One thing that will help your starter more than anything is a stir plate. It will produce a lot more cells. They are pretty cheap and easy to make.
 
flabyboy said:
One thing that will help your starter more than anything is a stir plate. It will produce a lot more cells. They are pretty cheap and easy to make.

Well, I'm worried because I'm stick at work and haven't had any time to stir it since early this morning.
 
Well, I'm worried because I'm stick at work and haven't had any time to stir it since early this morning.

I have taken my 1/2 gal. growler starter to work with me. I left it the truck and would go out and swirl it every hour. Of course that was in the summer so obviously I can't do that now but depending on where you are maybe that's an option. Like one of the other responders said, a stir plate is worth the money.

Another thing, once your starter is done and you refrigerate it, let it settle out and doing some math, try to estimate your volume of packed yeast. Then compare that to what Mr. Malty says you need according to the numbers of your brew. It will at least give you an idea of where you stand.
 
How do I know when fermentation is finished in my starter? I don't want to put it in the fridge when it is still fermenting.
 

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