Wanting to start brewing tomorrow

earwig said:

What type of yeast is it? You'd be better off starting the starter ASAP and pitching right after cooling the wort. Leaving the wort around too long without yeast is riskier than not using enough yeast in the first place. I have brewed and not used a starter when it was recommended and the beer came out perfect.

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bowiefan said:

Depends on the yeast and the gravity you will pitch into. I brew all grain so a brew session runs about 5 hours for me. If I am brewing a med/low gravity ale, I will fire up a stirplate starter just before I crush my grains and start heating my strike water. 5 hours later, the starter is at high krausen as I pitch it. I usually hit vigorous fermentation within 4 hours this way and my ales ferment out fast and clean every time.

This works better with dry yeast than liquid as the dry pack has a higher cell count to begin with. Also, if you are pitching to a SG above 1.060, you will need more time to build a starter or you will end up under pitching for the gravity and straining your yeast towards the end of fermentation. Might I suggest that while you are at your LHBS tomorrow, pick up a few packs of dry yeast, suitable for your normal styles, and just stock them in your fridge for the next time this happens.

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jvcjbl said:

The last beer I cloned was only a 1.052 OG and I only pitched one vial of WLP005 without a starter. When I took a gravity reading after about 13 days from pitching the gravity was 1.016 but the beer in the sample had some banana smell and taste. I was told it could be from "not pitching enough yeast" and or "too high of a fermentation temp". This new beer I am going to brew has an OG of 1.103 and I want to make sure to get enough yeast in there to prevent any problems. I am going to pitch WLP001 (2 vials).

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jvcjbl said:

It is a felony for the unlicensed possession of a flash in TX so a stirplate and flask are out of the question. So your saying for making "quicker" starters dry yeast is the way to go? I was going to go get everything today and try to make the start this evening so it could be ready for pitching tomorrow of Sunday at the latest.

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jvcjbl said:

The last beer I cloned was only a 1.052 OG and I only pitched one vial of WLP005 without a starter. When I took a gravity reading after about 13 days from pitching the gravity was 1.016 but the beer in the sample had some banana smell and taste. I was told it could be from "not pitching enough yeast" and or "too high of a fermentation temp". This new beer I am going to brew has an OG of 1.103 and I want to make sure to get enough yeast in there to prevent any problems. I am going to pitch WLP001 (2 vials).

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bowiefan said:

At 1.052 your esters most likely came from your fermentation temp but also should have cleared up a bit if you left the beer in primary for a couple more weeks. I haveone I am refering to as a Belgan SuperMax that started on labor day at 1.18 and is now at 1.015. Samples around Thanksgiving were VERY estery, but as of last week the fruitiness is on par with Three Philosophers. It is still in secondary today.

You could also try using S05 instead of WLP001, they are basically the same, but you get a faster start and higher initial cell count with the S05. Also, I don't have a pitching calculator handy, but I bet you need close to 4 vials if you go with 001to hit proper pitching rate.

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jvcjbl said:

Mrmalty pitching calc calls for 2 pacs/vials of yeast with a starter, and 3.6 packs/vials without a starter for this big 1.103 gravity beer I want to do. As far as temps... again, I don't know wort temp but the ambient temp was between 68-72'f. The beer is now in secondary... funny thing is the carboy has ZERO banana smell. It was all based around that sample in the test tube

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bowiefan said:

Well, you should be ok with either; buy 3 vials and pitch a small starter prior to your brew session or buy 2 and pitch a starter but wait an extra day to brew. As to the last beer, all yeast produce some esters, most are just carried off with the offgasing of co2 or eaten by the yeast after the rest of the food is gone, so you may have just driven the residual out by racking to secondary. Also, ambient of 68-72 is ok if you are using a swamp cooler, but too warm for just sitting in a bucket/carboy in the closet. Your big beer especially, is going to stress the yeast a lot near the end and the last thing you want is for them to get overheated and start puking out banannas into your beer.

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jvcjbl said:

Yeah it was sitting in the guest closest in the dark. What is a good way to keep track of the fermenting temperature? My LHBS doesn't recommend the stick on thermometers as they say the pretty much fall off washing. I am curious if the wort was really too hot or just me being over sensitive. You got me worried about this big beer now.

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bowiefan said:

If you use a carboy, get a "brewcap" soft plastic cap that fits over the mouth of the carboy and has 2 ports sticking out. Use the second port for one if the remote type meat thermometers (not one with a steel braid over the cord) just put the tip only into the wort. Or you could just put together a swamp cooler for about $30. All you need is a plastic tub big enough to hold your fermentor and a couple inches of water, a t shirt and a fan. For extra credit you can add a small aquarium pump and a piece of 3/16 tubing to circulate water over the t-shirt and improve your cooling efficiency. You can easly get the beer 10-15*F below ambient. Plus with it being winter, your wife will appreciate a little more humidity in the house.

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jvcjbl said:

Yeah it was sitting in the guest closest in the dark. What is a good way to keep track of the fermenting temperature? My LHBS doesn't recommend the stick on thermometers as they say the pretty much fall off washing. I am curious if the wort was really too hot or just me being over sensitive. You got me worried about this big beer now.

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brettwasbtd said:

The stickers (Fermometer) don't come off with normal washing. They will however get trashed sitting in a swamp cooler for a few weeks. If the carboy is in a dry climate then the fermometer is fine. If it is in a wet environment, like the swamp cooler, just keep the swamp cooler water to the wort/beer level and take temps of the water. The water temp is a pretty accurate representation of the wort temp

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jvcjbl said:

IYO is the fermometers a good idea or accurate? I have a $300 snap-on infared thermometer I was thinking about trying, but it would only tell me the temp of the surface (glass outside) which I believe is the same as the fermometer?

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