Yeast Starter Flask Size - 2L too big for bottle harvest 1st step?

I'm all ready to make starters. Just got my 2L flask, stir plate, DME, nutrient, foam stopper, etc.

Right now, I'm between brews (need to buy more buckets) and just want to try to practice making a starter. I was thinking of trying to harvest some yeast from my bottled homebrews, but I'm concerned that my 2L flask is too big for the first step of harvesting bottled yeast.

Should I buy a 500mL flask or just use the 2L guy with very little wort in it? I'm thinking 100ml for the first step.

2L is way too big. You could always put 50ml of low gravity (1.020) sterile wort in your bottle and let that ferment out. Then add 250ml of low gravity sterile wort to your bottle. Then step up to 1L in your 2L flask of average gravity (1.040-1.050) sanitized wort.

Thanks. LHBS only had 1L and 2L flasks. Don't really want to buy a 500mL online since shipping will double the price of the flask.

I might try using a Corona bottle (I'll make sure I don't chuck a lime into it)...this is just an experiment anyway. I don't see myself harvesting bottle yeast. I'll just be washing my own from my homebrew and then making starters in my 2L.

No problem, brutha. You could also use some other glass container for the steps. I use a bottle from one of those cold starbucks drinks that can be bought at a gas station, which is 281ml. And then a 473ml Lipton Ice Tea bottle for the 500ml step. Obviously, I also sterilize or sanitize them, depending on how much time I have to get everything rolling.

BrewThruYou said:

Thanks. LHBS only had 1L and 2L flasks. Don't really want to buy a 500mL online since shipping will double the price of the flask.

I might try using a Corona bottle (I'll make sure I don't chuck a lime into it)...this is just an experiment anyway. I don't see myself harvesting bottle yeast. I'll just be washing my own from my homebrew and then making starters in my 2L.

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Small kits with stepped sizes are fairly reasonable in the smaller sizes. You might just keep that in the back of your mind if you buy something else at a place that has these also.

What's the problem with using an oversized bottle for a starter? Maybe I'm just being dense, but I don't see how it would be an issue.

GuldTuborg said:

What's the problem with using an oversized bottle for a starter? Maybe I'm just being dense, but I don't see how it would be an issue.

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The amount of surface area of the starter wort. Too much surface area and it'll dry out too easily, and not let the yeast have a sufficient amount of liquid to float around in causing them to not eat up all the sugars as quickly.

^^^ Interesting. Never heard of that before. I suppose it makes sense though, in extreme cases (100mL is what, 3-4 oz? That is very little for a 2qt flask).

I bottle harvest by dumping one bottle (12 oz) of highly hopped wort on top of the dregs. It may be over-doing it, but I've done it thrice now and have yet to have a problem.

DrawTap88 said:

The amount of surface area of the starter wort. Too much surface area and it'll dry out too easily, and not let the yeast have a sufficient amount of liquid to float around in causing them to not eat up all the sugars as quickly.

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I think you are confusing petri dishes and flasks. With any kind of a lid on the flask it would take months/years to dry out. And the yeast can ferment as long as there are sugars.

The only problem with a large flask is that you can't use a stirbar unless you don't mind loud rattling. The other thing is that you can't boil the final step (1L) in the flask for obvious reasons, but you can always use a pot. At that point in the process sterility is not important.