So I see that a lot of people around here talk about making BIG starters? So I think the size of the starter does not matter as much as the time it is left
not so? I mean a 500ml starter fermented for two days is exactly the same as 2 liter starter fermenting for the same time period (considering that the same amount of yeast was initially pitched?) just as long as the yeasties does not run out of food........ right?
Making sense of starters?
- Thread starter DannyD
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
DannyD
Well-Known Member
Valid point (and the point)........So, no use in making a big starter if you are going to pitch in 6 hours. A good starter would be a resultant function of time AND fermentables, not just volume
Good to know.
I've been doing 500ml starters about 24 hours before I pitch.
Time to look for a gallon jug.
Thanks
E
AFAIAC, no point at all in making a starter 6 hours ahead. You'll get very little yeast growth in that time. My average starter is 2-3 qt. made a minimum of 5 days ahead. I let it ferment out, refrigerate it. On brew day, I pull it out, decant the spent wort and pitch the starter when it's cold so as not to deplete the nutrient reserves of the yeast by warming it up too soon. Also, if you make too small a starter, the yeast don't have enough food to rebuild their glycogen reserves. That could actually weaken the yeast.
StMarcos
Well-Known Member
Except... I pitched a L starter into a 4L one yesterday evening, put it on a stir plate, and it was krausen city 4 hours later. I can only imagine that the reproduction had already happened by this time.
BBL_Brewer
Well-Known Member
On a stir plate, yeast can blow through a pretty good sized starter in 8-12 hours under optimal conditions.
A .5L starter is used to "wake up" the yeast. Even if you don't plan on growing yeast it is a good idea to make a .5L starter to get the yeast woke up, stretch their legs and get ready to do some real work. Typically you would do this anywhere from 5-15 hours ahead of time. 5 hours to wake them up 12-15hrs to get them at high krausen and shorten your lag time. You won't have much growth if any with this size starter.
A bigger starter is used to grow yeast and cut down on cost and it also helps develop flavor character. You can pitch 1 pack into a 2L starter and almost double the amount of yeast you have. Then you can repitch that and increase the amount of yeast you have again, It doesn't keep doubling but if you have a big beer and need 400-500billion yeast cells this can save you alot of money
A bigger starter is used to grow yeast and cut down on cost and it also helps develop flavor character. You can pitch 1 pack into a 2L starter and almost double the amount of yeast you have. Then you can repitch that and increase the amount of yeast you have again, It doesn't keep doubling but if you have a big beer and need 400-500billion yeast cells this can save you alot of money
rockfish42
Well-Known Member
Sort of, ideally starter wort should be somewhere between 1.030-1.040 in gravity. Anything higher than that and you're placing the yeast under higher osmotic pressure than is good for growth, any lower and they don't have enough nutrients for reproduction.
Here's some more reading on the topic
http://www.mrmalty.com/pitching.php
http://www.maltosefalcons.com/tech/yeast-propagation-and-maintenance-principles-and-practices
The second link has a few misconceptions as it's from older information but is still a useful read.
