Do I have to worry about the yeast in my starter getting killed off by the alcohol they're creating while eating the DME? Or is that not an issue here?
quote]
Ideally you don't want them to make alcohol.
In a starter the yeast should be kept in is aerob stage because that's when they grow best. There is not much growth when the yeast is forced to live w/o O2 and just gets by, by making alcohol.
This however requires constant aeration and no airlock (tin-foil is your friend). That's why stir plates are best. But there also rather expensive and I don't have one either
If you go the way of growing as much yeast as you can with your means, (shaking and no airlock might be all you can do) you don't want to pitch the spent starter liquid. Just decant it and use the yeast cake. You can get ale yeast to settle out easily by chilling the starter in the fridge.
Kai
