rockjones73
Member
I just made a 1.084 OG breakfast stout and pitched using a 1 quart starter from a Wyeast American ale smackpack. The FG only got to 1.030, or about 60% attenuation. I was shooting for 1.020 or so. I think I should have used a bigger starter, but am not sure how you step a starter up...couldn't I just make, say, a 2-4 qt starter in the Primary fermentor pitched with a smackpack, decant the starter wort and put my beer wort on the cake? Those packs are supposed to be able to innoculate a whole batch of low-gravity beer, so couldn't I just go from smackpack to four quart starter without stepping up from a small starter?