anyone have experience making a 10+ litre starter?

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clay9_24

beerganeer
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New to the yeast starter stuff. I have been doing some reading and am interested if anyone has done big starters for 30 to 50 gallon batches? the yeast cost is super high and we have been way underpitching.

Thanks

clay
 
Why not just make a 5-gallon batch of something simple like a pale ale then rack the beer off and pitch the appropriate amount of slurry? Mrmalty.com will tell you how much slurry is needed.
 
Why not just make a 5-gallon batch of something simple like a pale ale then rack the beer off and pitch the appropriate amount of slurry? Mrmalty.com will tell you how much slurry is needed.

Yeah something like this is going to be a good option if you can still do 5 gallon batches. Step your yeast up from vial to 1L starter, then do a 5 gallon batch, then you have the slurry for your big batch. After the first big batch, you should be able to repitch that slurry batch to batch for 10 or 12 generations before you need to start the process over from a fresh pitch.

Re-pitching yeast is key to producing beer on a large scale with any sort of cost effectiveness.
 
"New to yeast starters" and "30-50 gallon batches" don't belong in the same thought.

I would definitely do what was mentioned already. Make a small version of what you are planning on making a big version of. Then rinse yeast and re-pitch.
 
I do 30 gallon batches, but I ferment in buckets. I decided to make 6 stir plates so that I could make a starter for each bucket instead of having to brew up a batch to harvest slurry. I think it's easier in the long run.
 
We had been using 6 vials of yeast and were getting great fermenations starts in 6 to 12 hours. We have never had an issue with stuck fermentation but this beersmith software tells us that we need to be using significantly more yeast. I'm a bit confused to say the least.
 
We would love to repitch but seldomly do we do the same style recipe more than twice a year.

But you could still brew a 5 gallon batch of the beer you are going to make and use that slurry for the big batch. Seems like a waste to make that big of a starter when you can make a big "starter" and have 5 gallons of beer. :mug:
 
There has been a growing number of "helpers" showing up on brew day to sample the last batch.

If we have been having great success with our underpitching technique :) should we change anything? Would our beer become better?
 
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