pitch starter

Whats the best time to pitch the starter i read on john pamers site to wait
to it has stoped working pour off the wort and pitch the yeast in the bottom after the starter has been in the fridge. And some say to do it when the starter is most Active
Cheer Daza

Daznz said:

Whats the best time to pitch the starter i read on john pamers site to wait
to it has stoped working pour off the wort and pitch the yeast in the bottom after the starter has been in the fridge. And some say to do it when the starter is most Active
Cheer Daza

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I pitch mine 48 hrs after making it. Ive done them 24 hrs after but now i let them settle out before pitching. I dont know the science behind it but i read it somewhere by someone who does know (like palmer).

there is some debate about decanting first, and/or sticking it in the fridge as to settle them out. I used to do baby starters with 1 qt or less wort which id throw in, but now i do MAN starters of 2-3 qts which i do decant. I dont think it matters either way though really...

I try to make mine a couple of days before they are needed. I don't use the liquid and just use the slurry. Last week I took a small amout or wort as I was boiling, cooled it down and then added it to the flask and the yeasties were getting active when I pitched. Seemed to work pretty good.

I make it 24 hours before I pitch. Through my very limited experience I find theres less lag time pitching at 24 hours rather than waiting and decanting however this could (and probably will) be down to some other factor like the pitching temp.

Most people like to decant and pitch the slurry but i've read arguments that say the younger flocculant yeast cells are still in suspension and it's best to pitch the whole thing. I personally decant half of the liquid then swirl and pitch the rest.

It doesn't really matter too much at the end of the day, IMHO. If you've made a starter your beer will be all the better for it

My standard is a 1 qt starter and I usually pitch the whole thing.

If it peaks early and spends a while in the fridge, I'll decant because it's easy.

If I make a bigger starter, I decant just because it's a larger amount of liquid.

Wow, I do a starter about 3-4 hours before pitching and it's about 1 pint, maybe a little less. I have yet to have the bubbling not start within 24 hours of pitching.

The point of the starter is to get the yeast from their dormant or resting phase where they are not growing into their exponential growth stage. Thus when you pitch them they are already actively growing and reproducing and can get to work on your wort more quickly. To pitch a large volume may be beneficial with regards to giving your yeast the best chance to outcompete any bacteria that might find their way into your wort.

I do my starters just the same as HurricaneFloyd

Matt

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Wow, I do a starter about 3-4 hours before pitching and it's about 1 pint, maybe a little less. I have yet to have the bubbling not start within 24 hours of pitching.
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3 to 4 hours isn't enough time for a starter to do anything useful IMO. You'll find a big improvement if you let your starter ferment a day or two. You'll get a higher yeast count that way.
All you are really doing is proofing your yeast not raising your yeast count.

HurricaneFloyd said:

Wow, I do a starter about 3-4 hours before pitching and it's about 1 pint, maybe a little less. I have yet to have the bubbling not start within 24 hours of pitching.

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Wow.... 3 to 4 hours! Hours? HurricaneFloyd, whats your lag time generally? Well I just started doing starters so by no means am I an expert or anything, but I've been pretty much following the advice of the majority (hopefully) here that seems to say its in days. I seem to do mine like 2 days before I need it and I've been pitching everything. I dont know how much it is.... 1/2 a grogler maybe a little more. But lag time is INCREDIBLE! I mean like one fermentation started within two hours! Before I did starters general lag time could be 24.... 48 hours. So I guess whatever I'm doing seems to be working pretty well

Beer Snob said:

Wow.... 3 to 4 hours! Hours? HurricaneFloyd, whats your lag time generally? Well I just started doing starters so by no means am I an expert or anything, but I've been pretty much following the advice of the majority (hopefully) here that seems to say its in days. I seem to do mine like 2 days before I need it and I've been pitching everything. I dont know how much it is.... 1/2 a grogler maybe a little more. But lag time is INCREDIBLE! I mean like one fermentation started within two hours! Before I did starters general lag time could be 24.... 48 hours. So I guess whatever I'm doing seems to be working pretty well

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Lag time is never a problem, depending on the yeast it could be a 8 hours - 24 hours before I start getting bubbling on a regular basis. This is for a 5 gal batch.