Yeast Starter Da funk?

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plinythebadass

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So im getting into AG now and im interested in making a starter and above all-what a starter is :/ stupid i know. But im assuming its culturing from yeast sediment or the yeast cake from a current batch for use in the next batch (same style/recipe obviously) some how (anothr part of my question). Please lemme know, im interested in getting better cinsistency.
 
First off welcome to HBT!

A yeast starter can certainly be made using sediment from a bottle or some yeast cake from a fermenter. I think what many people do is start out making starters with a vial of liquid yeast and sometimes that progresses into yeast washing and salvaging yeast from naturally carbonated bottles.

The idea of a yeast starter is to build the yeast colony up to proper pitching sizes for a given wort's specific gravity and volume. I believe the general rule of thumb is any 5 gallon batch 1.060 or below, a vial of yeast pitched straight into the wort is acceptable. Above that number, starters are recommended.

Think of a starter, kind of as a very small batch of beer but instead of beer the goal is to make more yeast. Make a wort mixture of around 1.035-1-040. You might think the higher OG the starter wort is the better, but it'll just stress out the yeast. Give them something gentle to chew on and they'll be much happier.

Here's a thread that that will help you with this.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/how-make-yeast-starter-pictorial-76101/

You can search around HBT and find quite a few threads on this subject.

Happy Brewing and remember, if you are making beer you can make a starter!
 
I see I see thank you so much for your help. I'm just trying to lessen the amount of times I have to buy yeast, hence forth why I wanted to culture a sample from my current batch so as to recreate the flavors, esters and all that jazz in the next batch. Saves me some money, those smack packs add up (I do this quite frequently, when I'm not in college-im researching or home brewing or partying!) since I do tend to do this with a high bit of frequency!
 
Ok so literally-here's what I just did when I transferred to my secondary.

I drained out the beer until it stopped siphoning, took a sanitized jar, took some of the yeast cake out in a measuring cup along with some of the wort and put it in said jar, then i added some raw organic sugar to it to possibly give it some food to eat? It's gassing off, the top of the jar has pressure you can feel and it emits and audible "phhhhssshhh" when I open the lid to purge some of it. What could this do for me, I'm assuming it's useless but could I pitch into my next 5 gallon batch? Lemme know ladies and gents
 
Here's a pic of what I go going on-it looks viable???

2012-08-22 23.38.20.jpg
 
Hey man. So basically a yeast starter is like what was already said- a way to build yeast n culture it- with that said - it's not the only reason to make a starter.. The idea is to make a starter with a little bit of wort- either taken off a previous batch of beer or made in about 20 minutes on a stove with a little bit of malt extract- and to pitch previously used yeast harvested off a batch of beer that is finished with at least the primary stage of fermentation- taking yeast too early could cause other problems- and pitching it into a sterile container where again STERILE wort is awaiting.. 1.035-1.040 (8.75-10 Plato) is perfect for a starter. Making the starter about 1 day b4 a brew day is good-but remember u can harvest the yeast days b4 as long as its kept sterile and possibly n the fridge- but making a starter lets the yeast begin to eat with out getting over worked and going dormant- kind of like an appetizer b4 dinner or stretching b4 exercise - this way when u pitch the yeast continue doing their job and are ready for the job ahead of them- using yeast doesn't have to be used for the same style beer- ie. u can ferment a amber ale with a yeast n then go and brew a porter or a blonde or anything else u want- and most yeasts u should be able to get about 10 generations out of- If u brew close enough together where ur not storing your yeast for extended periods of time. I hope that helps u some.. Starters are good.. For any starting gravity- not just over 1.060 or lager.. Treat yeast with care and they'll make good beer.. Hey I should coin that one! Lol

-the yeast wrangler
 
Hey man. So basically a yeast starter is like what was already said- a way to build yeast n culture it- with that said - it's not the only reason to make a starter.. The idea is to make a starter with a little bit of wort- either taken off a previous batch of beer or made in about 20 minutes on a stove with a little bit of malt extract- and to pitch previously used yeast harvested off a batch of beer that is finished with at least the primary stage of fermentation- taking yeast too early could cause other problems- and pitching it into a sterile container where again STERILE wort is awaiting.. 1.035-1.040 (8.75-10 Plato) is perfect for a starter. Making the starter about 1 day b4 a brew day is good-but remember u can harvest the yeast days b4 as long as its kept sterile and possibly n the fridge- but making a starter lets the yeast begin to eat with out getting over worked and going dormant- kind of like an appetizer b4 dinner or stretching b4 exercise - this way when u pitch the yeast continue doing their job and are ready for the job ahead of them- using yeast doesn't have to be used for the same style beer- ie. u can ferment a amber ale with a yeast n then go and brew a porter or a blonde or anything else u want- and most yeasts u should be able to get about 10 generations out of- If u brew close enough together where ur not storing your yeast for extended periods of time. I hope that helps u some.. Starters are good.. For any starting gravity- not just over 1.060 or lager.. Treat yeast with care and they'll make good beer.. Hey I should coin that one! Lol

-the yeast wrangler

Excellent this has all been very enlightening. So based on what you just saw in my picture there and from what I've said (provided my gravity reading is correct), I could pitch this bad boy on Saturday (8/25) when I brew again?
 
plinythebadass said:
Excellent this has all been very enlightening. So based on what you just saw in my picture there and from what I've said (provided my gravity reading is correct), I could pitch this bad boy on Saturday (8/25) when I brew again?

I would say yeah. What kind of yeast is it (number- wyeast or Wlabs)? When did u harvest and what temp has it been at? Doing a starter would be a good idea. And cleaning the yeast... Dumping that top layer of beer out and putting preboiled water in (like 2 times) and then add a little bit of wort from some DME and make a starter the day before. But the yeast looks healthy. You want the nice fluffy stuff as opposed to the compacted stuff on the bottom.
 
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