How long does a starter actually need? Bare minimum?

So, I've dealt with very damaged wyeast packs from summer heat that, after a week or so came back to life in a starter.

Usually, I do a starter 24 hours before brewing and it's pretty damn viable at that point. Tonight, i finished my batch of porter and decided..I'm not tired so I'll start brewing my Imperial stout. So, I started a starter...it's probably a solid 3 hours before I am going to pitch it.

Will I actually get anything more out of doing a starter versus just "smacking" the smack pack and letting the yeast do its thing? Thanks.

You'll get a 3 hour headstart, but that is about it. Hopefully you've got a couple smack packs lying around because 1 is going to probably be a major underpitch for an imperial stout. Did you plug it in a calculator and see what you pitch rate should be?

3 hours helps. anything helps, but 3 hours is the minimum that makes a difference. that's the point where yeast usually replicates to the max it's going to. then it starts munching the sugar. as bill says, that's weak for an imperial stout, but it's better than no starter

Are you making a starter just to check viability or to pitch the proper amount of cells? If the latter, you are going to be way under pitching.

I would leave your stout alone until tomorrow sometime and let your starter do its thing overnight. As long as your sanitation is up to par, you won't have a problem.

Viability is almost certainly good. Was shipped overnight with an ice pack and stuck in the fridge and 5 days after leaving the retailer, I'm pitching it.

So, it's a starter. The only alternative is that I rack the wort and then pitch in the morning giving the starter a full 10 hours.

Thoughts?

I've heard Jamil say 12 hours is all that is "really needed," basically just to wake em up.

How big (volume and density) is your starter?

Stirplate?

What's the OG on your Imperial Stout?

Regardless of the answers to my previous questions... I would wait as long as you can stand it. I would try to hold out for 16 ish hours personally(minimum). As mentioned before, you should be fine as long as your sanitation is up to snuff. You are basically performing a wort stability test. Maybe this isn't the best (cheapest) beer with which to perform that sort of test, but hey, what the heck. With the potential underpitch I wouldn't worry so much about under-attenuation but more so with off flavors associated with stressed yeast. Keep your temps in check.

Good Luck

Expected OG should be 1.090.. It's one Wyeast 1098 pack that was in the fridge un "smacked"

No stirplate, I'm doing 1500ML starter.

step said:

Keep your temps in check.

Good Luck

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Good advice..for this 10-16 hour wort stability test, what temp should I keep? My cellar is at 55 right now, my fermentation chamber is hovering around 68.

Should I keep the wort cold or warm?

That's not too extreme for the OG, high, but not crazy. Agitate as much you can, careful in the morning after it has sat for several hours. Just watch the turbidity of the starter and use your best judgement. Oxygenate your wort as much as possible!!!

Keep the wort as cold as you can. That will slow any infection and keep more oxygen in solution. Colder temps at the beginning of fermetation will also mitigate the effects of an underpitch. If you don't have a stirplate, then shake your starter whenever you walk past it. There's some evidence that the world's smallest drop of olive oil can take the place of oxygen in yeast growth.

step said:

That's not too extreme for the OG, high, but not crazy. Agitate as much you can, careful in the morning after it has sat for several hours. Just watch the turbidity of the starter and use your best judgement. Oxygenate your wort as much as possible!!!

Click to expand...

Thanks Step.