decanting vs not decanting yeast starter

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C2H6O

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So I was planning on brewing tomorrow but the f*en weather people hosed the forecast and it looks like today is going to be the better day outside. I made my starter Thurs. night and was going to stash it in the fridge tonight to decant tomorrow before pitching. If I brew today I will need to pitch the entire starter (~1.8L) because it has not fully cleared and settled.

Has anyone pitched an entire starter and not gotten off flavors in your finished beer?? It will be close to 5.5-6gal batch after adding this so roughly 8% of the batch volume will be starter...

Thanks
 
I have pitched a 1.5L starter into 5 gallons and been fine though I really don't like doing it. I think the general rule is that if the volume is 10% or more of your batch size you really should be decanting.

If you haven't started brewing yet throw that starter in the fridge or even freezer for a few mins at a time. By the time you're ready to pitch you should be able to decant at least some.
 
It depends on what you're making. If you're making an oatmeal stout, I doubt you'd taste anything at all from the starter. If you're making a helles, you really have to decant!
 
I havent started yet....I just put the starter in the fridge......urrrrrrgh with all the technology the weather people have you would think that a 2 day forecast would be somewhat accurate
 
I've brewed in a torrential downpour before. It was quite fun. Hung a tarp on the underside of our deck and brewed right on through the storm.
 
I've brewed in a torrential downpour before. It was quite fun. Hung a tarp on the underside of our deck and brewed right on through the storm.

Nice......I'm going to take your original advice and try to cool it down and decant as much off as i can......worse case I will have a new baseline of what I can and cant do with my yeast starter for this beer.....
 
I always try to decant, regardless of the style of beer I'm making. I'd try to crash as best you can and pitch as late as possible. I'm sure that you'll be fine.
 
I always decant unless I am doing something experimental, like getting a fermentation un-stuck. Starter beer is totally oxidized and tastes like thin, tart cardboard. Nothing I want in my beer, no matter what the style.
 
I just pitched my first starter into 5 gallons of a Mcminamin's hammerhead clone. I thought bought decanting, and probably would have if it was a lighter beer. It was just a liter. Hopefully I won't have any off flavors.
 
I always try to decant, regardless of the style of beer I'm making. I'd try to crash as best you can and pitch as late as possible. I'm sure that you'll be fine.

Yea that is exactly what I did - I crashed it for about 4hrs and did a slow boil to allow it to heat up to room temp. - my OG was a little a high from the evaporation but not concerning. This morning my airlock - has a nice foam head on it and is bubbling away....hopefully there is enough yeast to complete the fermentation
 

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