Need help with making a large starter.

I only have yeast bank tube and a small jar of washed Wyeast 1056 to start from. How would I make enough to do a 10gal batch with an OG 1.060. I have a stir plate and a 2L E.flask. Is this possible. Starters of this nature are new to me. Thanks.

How old is your washed yeast? You'll want to make a step starter. Just start with a 500mL starter and work your way up from there. I'd say 1000mL will be plenty for a 1.060 beer. So start out with about 3oz. of DME in about a quart of water. Boil, cool, then pitch your yeast. Make sure to slowly bring the yeast to room temps. I like to take it from the freezer, wrap it in a hand towl, and put it in the fridge. After 12 hours or so, set it on your kitchen counter with the towel around it. A few hours later, unwrap it and let it sit until it's room temp. Then pitch into your cooled starter wort.

After a day or two, make another batch of starter wort with 6oz. of DME. Decant your current starter (remove the liquid from the top) and pitch yeast slurry into the new starter again. After a few days your yeast will be plenty active.

This may not be the correct way to go about things, but it's always worked great for me.

Try messing around with Mr Malty Pitching Rate Calculator

A+ on Mr. Malty

Brew-boy said:

A+ on Mr. Malty

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I'll be sad if that tool ever goes away. I every time I use it, I store the results in beersmith just in case.

michael.berta said:

Try messing around with Mr Malty Pitching Rate Calculator

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That thing tells me 4L of Starter. That is huge. I cant see where that is accurate. Granted it is a 10gal batch but the OG isnt that high.

schupaul said:

That thing tells me 4L of Starter. That is huge. I cant see where that is accurate. Granted it is a 10gal batch but the OG isnt that high.

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I would just make a 2l starter after its fermented out cool and decant the spent wort then add another 2l of fresh wort. That essentially will make a 4l starter

4k starter is not out of the question for a larger by no means. Why waste the time brewing it if it under attenuates?

schupaul said:

That thing tells me 4L of Starter. That is huge. I cant see where that is accurate. Granted it is a 10gal batch but the OG isnt that high.

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Did you change the drop down bar that says "simple starter" to stir plate? I get 1400 mL starter with 2 yeast vials when I tried it.

Eric

Check out http://maltosefalcons.com/tech/yeast-propagation-and-maintenance-principles-and-practices
It's not the easiest article to understand, but it contains an amazing amount of useful information.
If you have a stir plate, I think it gives much more relevant information than MrMalty.

-a.

EricCSU said:

Did you change the drop down bar that says "simple starter" to stir plate? I get 1400 mL starter with 2 yeast vials when I tried it.

Eric

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The thing is, I am not using 2 vials. I am using just a frozen sample from a new yeast bank or some washed. Also, the largest Flask I have is 2L.