Yeast Starter Added- How does it affect OG?

Hey everyone, about a month ago I brewed an Imperial Stout with an OG of 1.090. After I took the OG, I added a yeast starter that had 16 oz. water and 1/2 cup LDME and 8 oz. maltodextrin.

What will be the increase in gravity given the 1/2 cup LDME and 8 oz. maltodextrin- .008?

I'm going to be transferring my stout to the secondary so I need to know so I can measure my FG and determine ABV.

Thanks

You can roughly estimate the abv boost by taking into account points per pound per gallon (ppppg). Since you used DME, we can say that 1 pound of DME adds 44 gravity points, then divided by the 5 gallons would add 8.8 gravity points.

Since you probably used 4 oz, which is 1/4 of 1 pound, your starter is worth 2 gravity points overall. This isn't taking into account if you diluted your brew with the starter. Seeing how your beer was 1.090 and your starter should be 1.035-40, you will absolutely dilute your beer (minimally) by adding a starter.

I don't recommend pouring all your starter in your brew-- since they'r made @ higher temps than ideal fermtemps, they tend to have slight off-flavors that may negatively impact the taste of your final product. Decant the spent wort off the yeast cake, leave a small amount of liquid for swirling, and then swirl and pitch the slurry. You'll have much better results, and you won't dilute your end product!

Best of luck!

Also, skip the secondary. No need for it at all with a stout. Let it sit on the yeast cake for a month after primary is done.

It has been sitting in the primary for over a month now. I'm adding 2 oz. oak chips and 11 oz. of MM bourbon to it so I figured I would do all that in the secondary. I plan on letting it sit in the secondary for at least 3 months...maybe until 12/1.

Will I need to add yeast at bottling?

And as far as the starter goes- it's already done so I hope I didn't screw anything up.

For future reference I will be sure to add only the cake on the bottom of the starter.

todd49401 said:

It has been sitting in the primary for over a month now. I'm adding 2 oz. oak chips and 11 oz. of MM bourbon to it so I figured I would do all that in the secondary. I plan on letting it sit in the secondary for at least 3 months...maybe until 12/1.

Will I need to add yeast at bottling?

And as far as the starter goes- it's already done so I hope I didn't screw anything up.

For future reference I will be sure to add only the cake on the bottom of the starter.

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Will you need to add yeast when bottling? Maybe. Yeast is a tricky little fungus. My recommendation would be to make a mini-starter a day or so before bottling, and take a 1/4 cup of the beer and add it in to your mini-starter to see if it krausens or produces a yeast cake on the bottom. Then you'll know your yeast is still good.

But, adding yeast won't hurt anything whatsoever. You may get a yeastier taste to your porter, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I find a little yeastiness in my high OG porters adds a balance to some of the residual sweetness.

Either way, let us know how great it is when you have a bottle =)

Also, I'd be sure that your yeast can handle the amount of alcohol in your beer. That 11 oz of makers mark will certainly increase the abv%, which is already pretty high. Some yeast stall out or die when you get past 9-10% abv.

I'm using the Wyeast Scottish Ale and I think the max ABV is 12%. I calculated that the bourbon will add about .63% ABV so I should be good. I don't think the beer will be above 10%...I'm guessing 8.5-9 for the beer and then +.63 for the bourbon.

I'm thinking about bottling half of the batch and kegging the other half. If I bottle I'll try to let it age for at least a year.

todd49401 said:

I'm using the Wyeast Scottish Ale and I think the max ABV is 12%. I calculated that the bourbon will add about .63% ABV so I should be good. I don't think the beer will be above 10%...I'm guessing 8.5-9 for the beer and then +.63 for the bourbon.

I'm thinking about bottling half of the batch and kegging the other half. If I bottle I'll try to let it age for at least a year.

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Great plan. Either way don't tap that keg 'til November!

Not a chance. I'm hoping I can last until maybe Christmas- present to myself. Or just tap it on a cold snowy Ohio night...perfect.

todd49401 said:

Not a chance. I'm hoping I can last until maybe Christmas- present to myself. Or just tap it on a cold snowy Ohio night...perfect.

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I have 15 gallons of cold-weather beer right now conditioning. I'm hoping I can keep my mitts off it for a while, as well. Either way you'll have a delicious Holiday warmer and something to kick off the New Year with! Prost!

Nice- I'm trying to stock up on the cold weather beers now too. I'm brewing a pumpkin ale this weekend and a holiday ale next. When it's a good batch it's hard to keep mitts off of it...