Pitch full starter or just slurry?

In the past I have created a starter 24 hours in advance and then pitched the entire thing. I just re-read some books and saw where instead you can create the starter a few more days in advance and put it in the fridge after it's done so the yeast can settle and you can drain the wort to pitch on the slurry.

I was wondering which process everyone does and if anyone has comments either way on the topic.

I have done both, the consensus is that since we ferment starters warmer, off flavors that can occur will be added to your wort when pitching the entire starter. The other side of the coin is, if you use an extended primary fermentation the yeast will in essence "clean up" much of those off flavors that may have been produced in the starter. To add to that, if your starter is 1 liter, and you are adding it to 19+ liters, will the flavor really be impacted so much that it would be detectable?

IMO 6 in one, half a dozen in the other.

I've done both. Lately I have been putting the starter on my stirplate the night before I brew and pitching the entire starter while it is still actively fermenting. I usually get action in my carboy within two hours....often getting use of my blow off tubes. Since most of my brews only require a 1L starter, it's a small proportion. If I was doing a bigger starter I would probably decant most of the liquid before I pitched.

Hammy71 said:

I've done both. Lately I have been putting the starter on my stirplate the night before I brew and pitching the entire starter while it is still actively fermenting. I usually get action in my carboy within two hours....often getting use of my blow off tubes. Since most of my brews only require a 1L starter, it's a small proportion. If I was doing a bigger starter I would probably decant most of the liquid before I pitched.

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Good point, adding an entire starter at high kreausen, would be preferred over a starter that has completely fermented out. If your starter has fully fermented out, then chilling and decanting , IMO, is better. Of course, if you are brewing 3-5 gallons of a really high gravity brew that requires a 2+ liter starter, then chilling and decanting is the way to go.


FWIW, I have recently read some information regarding cold pitching. Basically, you chill your starter, decant off the wort and pitch your yeast slurry cold. The individuals who authored the information suggest that they have stronger/ better fermentation, and that pitching cold yeast into cooled (pitching temp wort) has no adverse effect on the yeast, however, pitching yeast that is warmer than the cooled wort can thermally shock the yeast, and cause possible off flavors and longer lag times.

Personally, I am from the school of pitching yeast at or about the same temperature of the wort. Pitching refrigerated yeast (~40F) into 65-68F wort seems like a no-no to me. At any rate, food for thought.