Making a starter and saving some for later, newb question

Ok, so I have harvested yeast once, and am going to make my first starter with this next batch. But I had a question that I can't seem to find a simple answer for.

I am newer homebrewer. I am good at keeping things clean, and made a beer that I just tried after bottle aging for 6 months and it was still good.

The question I have is that I am going to make a yeast starter, and I will probably use Safale 04 or something similar. anyway, I am going to start with a quart of DME, and go through the process of making a starter. Someone recommended that I make a quart starter, then after a couple days, add 2 more quarts, then pitch the whole thing. Seems like a big starter but it can't hurt getting things good and going.

Sorry, so here is the question. Could I (if everything was well cleaned) make a quart yeast starter, wait till is does its thing, add 2 more quarts of DME/Water, then wait a couple more days, swirl it all up, then pour 1 quart off into a sanitized jar, and pitch the remaining 2 quarts. If I refrigerated the 1 quart jar for around 2 weeks and made a new starter with that would it work, all things clean? This would allow me to use the same yeast in a couple of batches.

Would this also work if I harvested yeast once, and reused within a couple of weeks, then again in a couple more... I am reading John C. Palmers HOW TO BREW, and it sounds like the beer needs nutritional reserves, Glycogen and Trehelose. Would I need to supplement those?

Is this just a lot of work, with little to no return... Just trying to play with ways to cut costs while still brewing great beers. this would allow me to brew 2 beers with 1 yeast pack... thanks this is my first post.

Not that I'm an expert, but yes you will need to give them nutrients. From what I understand, you need to make sure you are pitching the right amount of yeast, so using a pitching rate calculator is a must, mrmalty has a free online one. The size of the starter really depends on how big (in terms of volume and gravity) the beer is.

The process you're describing is called stepping up (making a quart stater, and then making it bigger) however, usually you decant the starter and then step up. This only really is an advantage for bigger beers. So yes, you could step up to a big starter, and then save a quart for later, assuming the 2 quarts is still the right pitching rate.

The question I ask is why not wash the yeast after use? If you are making various beers with the same strain, maybe saving some is better. But, if you are making the same kind of beer with the yeast, wouldn't it be better to wash the yeast that now have characteristics for that style? You could even just put the new wort right on the yeast cake if you are perfecting a recipe. Again, I'm not really an expert, but since you are reading Palmer's "How to Brew", you could also listen to his podcast with Jamil Zainasheff about yeast starters: http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/Brew-Strong/Brew-Strong-12-22-08-Yeast-Starters

So I will have to research stepping up and how that works. I will also look at the calculator you recommended. The biggest piece of my question was in the saving a quart. I agree that harvesting for use would be better. And I had not thought about adding just brewed wort to the trub of a beer I just racked. Still learning about whats possible.

My thought with saving the yeast from a starter would be that I could (other than having to keep it clean) use the exact same yeast over 2, 3, or 4 batches. But I guess the yeast acclimate to the style of beer your brewing, which could mean that harvesting is the best call. I have also heard its best to not harvest and re-use more than 3-4 times.

Also with saving I would only be worried about keeping a couple things clean, but with harvesting there is alot more items that come in contact with the wort... I appreciate the help. and opinions.

I have also heard the don't re-use yeast more than 3 or 4 times bit, but idk if that is a big deal or not. In any event, you will always need nutrients for your yeast. The only issue I can think of with saving them is you won't get an accurate number if you keep saving over and over. FWIW, that podcast is only about 1:30:00 long, and you can fast forward through the commercials. John Palmer, Jamil Zainasheff (an award winning homebrewer) and a yeast expert weigh in on starters and stepping up and all sorts of stuff. Their general recommendation is that stepping up isn't really needed unless you are brewing big stouts. I am of the opinion that re-using the yeast cake for the same style (or similar style) is a good thing, as long as you avoid dumping hot wort on them. You could also look into washing your yeast from batch to batch. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/yeast-washing-illustrated-41768/