Can I use a wine bottle for my starter?

I just got back from the brew store..

I smacked my yeast pack and am scrounging around for something to make a starter in. The only thing I have is a freshly emptied wine bottle. It's a standard sized wine bottle.

Also, I have only liquid malt extract so how much should I use for my starter? I was going to boil a cup or so of water and I dunno, like 1/2 cup of LME, cool, then dump in the yeast..

Sound OK?

Thanks again.

Standard wine bottles are 750 ml, which means you wouldn't be able to make a starter larger than 500 ml or so. That is way too small to achieve any significant propagation.
How large a starter does your beer call for, according to the calculator on Mr Malty ?

your ratio sounds close, go ahead and use the wine bottle any size starter is better than none but try and find a bigger one for next time.

well hell, I'll just run to the store and grab a 2 liter selzter water bottle or water bottle, and use that.. bad idea?

uh. I have no idea how to use that mrMalty site..

I usually make 1 pt starters for regular gravity brews (under 1.060), that's about 500ml so I'd say it would work - but something larger is better though. I like a 64 oz growler because there's a lot of air space in there. Starters need to be well aerated and agitated often for maximum yeast propagation - if you only have a little bit of air space left in the container it may be hard to get enough oxygen into the starter wort to really grow the yeast population well. Still, it's much better than not doing a starter at all.

To use LME for a starter, you need about 1 lb per gallon or 2 oz per pint.
I'd rather buy a 64 oz growler of beer than 2 liters seltzer or water, but they would work.

-a.