Yeast starter Questions

Hey all,
I had a question regarding yeast starters. Using this yeast pitching chart from Jamil, this shows that stepping up a starter in a 2 liter flask won't double the cell count from 200B to 400B but only yields 300B.




Why would I decant a starter and then step it up in another 2L starter? Would I get the 400B count from two separate starters each decanted into a mason jar and then thrown to my Lager? I'm guessing something like this would actually need 3 starters (splitting the initial starter into two new ones) if I only had one smack pack. I'm asking because I'm looking into lagers but I only have a 2L flask.

Furthermore, if I had two yeast packets, why would I throw it into a starter to only get 300B cells instead of just making two separate starters with each pack, decant and store in a container, and then pitch for 400B cells? Just convenience if I don't need the full 400B?

Go over to yeastcalc.com and enter the info.

In my experience I've used one smack pack in 2L flask, and did stir plate starter, crash, decant, starter, crash, decant, & pitch to get recommended yeast size. You could use 2 packs but what fun is that. Lol.

cosmatics said:

In my experience I've used one smack pack in 2L flask, and did stir plate starter, crash, decant, starter, crash, decant, & pitch to get recommended yeast size. You could use 2 packs but what fun is that. Lol.

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I'm with you there, was just curious if I got more yeast production out of the results of two fresh starters whose yeast was then stored in mason jars and both pitched on brew day instead of stepping up. My guess is you do, but you actually need three starters, one of them to split between the two fresh starters if you're only using one yeast pack.

Golddiggie said:

Go over to yeastcalc.com and enter the info.

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I checked it out, looks really helpful but seems way more generous with the yeast yields than what the chart I posted from Jamil says. Can anyone explain this? I'm getting some of my knowledge about stepping up starters from this video:
http://billybrew.com/stepping-up-a-yeast-starter

That is where I first saw mention of this chart.

cosmatics said:

In my experience I've used one smack pack in 2L flask, and did stir plate starter, crash, decant, starter, crash, decant, & pitch to get recommended yeast size. You could use 2 packs but what fun is that. Lol.

Click to expand...

2nd,,, and that called stepping, each time he feeds the yeat'eys then crashes the numbers climb. I like washing my east that gives great numbers too.

Im just guessing here and if someone knows the answer please share it... But say u have one good and healthy smack pack and one not so healthy, and pitch both of them, won't the cells in the unhealthy pack take longer to reproduce and get their numbers up? Meaning if you use one pack, run that thru one starter cycle, chill decant and pitch to another 2L, won't that first cycle guarantee decent yeast cell numbers and guarantee that the second cycle would bring the cell count to the correct and expected count?