How do YOU make YOUR starter, and how long before brewing do YOU start?

Hey there,

There are a ton of threads about yeast where the answer is "make a starter! here's how I do it: . . ."

I am probably going to take the plunge into using starters, particularly because I want to start moving up in the whole OG department. Belgian Specialty Ales here I come!

But first, I wanted to take a quick survey:

1) do you make a starter? (Never, Depends, Always, RBMSI (Real Brewers Make Starters, Idiot))

2) with what? (water, wort, water then wort, etc.)

3) when do you start your starter? (during brewing, 1 hr before, 1 day before, IAAPYF (I Am A Professional Yeast Farmer))

1. Always, when using liquid yeast. I generally follow mrmalty.com's yeast pitching calculator.

2. Wort, of course. Water is just, well, water. I try to go to about 1.040 for all starters. To make life easier, I use 1/2 cup DME to 2 cups boiling water and scale up as needed depending on how big my starter is.

3. Depends. I like to either pitch within 24 hours, or let it ferment out completely and then put it in the fridge. If it's been in the fridge a few days, I decant the spent wort, swirl up the remains and pitch. That's my preference, actually, especially with lagers.

1. Always...with exception for dry yeast, repitching or very low og session brews

2. I use amber DME with a pint of water, 1.030-1.040. I use a growler and pure o2 for about 30 seconds, then pitch that starter into a carboy with more wort if necessary. I usually don't decant the young beer if its a small starter in a growler but if its in the carboy I'll use SWMBO's creme brulee torch on the neck, cool, decant, wipe down with star san.

The only reason why I use the amber stuff is because I bought way too much of it when I was a new brewer. Never seen any problems with color yet.

3. The night before the night before brewday (not stuttering) is my general time to make a starter

I make a starter with liquid yeast every time.
I use left over wort from a previous brewday that was frozen or canned. If frozen I boil it and cool it before using, if canned, it is good to go right out of the bottle.
I make my starters a week in advance and decant, although it didn't do me any good on my last brew. I made the starter as usual out of saved wort, but the pack I used was 2 years old and one week wasn't enough to propagate enough yeast to pitch to a lager.
So I ended up using a pack of W34/70 yeast.

I boil 2 cups water and add one cup extra light DME
boil for about 10-15 min. Cool it down to pitching temps and funnel it into my growler. pitch the yeast and shake the hell out of it. Put an airlock up on top and let it go to work....I normally make a starter the Day before I Brew

So, in volume measurements (easier for DME):

.25-.5 : 1 (Malt : water)

Boil, cool, pitch, wait for krausen, pitch.

peripatetic said:

1) do you make a starter? (Never, Depends, Always, RBMSI (Real Brewers Make Starters, Idiot))

2) with what? (water, wort, water then wort, etc.)

3) when do you start your starter? (during brewing, 1 hr before, 1 day before, IAAPYF (I Am A Professional Yeast Farmer))

Click to expand...

1) Usually. I don't use a starter for small beers or when I'm doing a quick, unexpected brew after werk. For most low-gravity beers, it isn't necessary as long as you have a semi-fresh vial. It's always beneficial, however.

2) I usually just do the 1/2 cup extract (wheat, light or pilsner depending on brew...usually dry) in 2 cups of water. I heat the water, add extract as it is coming to heat, stir well and boil lightly for 10-15 minutes in a saucepan.

I then cool in an ice bath (just a large bowl with ice water) until cool to the touch. Be sure to wipe off water from the saucepan, then pour into a sanitized 1000mL flask, top off with bottled water to about 700mL and add the yeast. Cover with sanitized aluminum foil and shake as often as possible until brew time or use stir plate.

If you want an exact gravity (~1.040 is the general consensus), it's best to go by weight.

I never use an airlock...defeats the purpose as the yeast grows better with oxygen.

3) I generally do 1-2 days before, but will start it the morning of a brewday if I feel the need. That is where a stirplate comes in handy, as it will take care of that extract within 12 hours, no problem.

I don't ever leave the yeast in the fridge overnight to decant the liquid. That works fine for growing up yeast to store or use in multiple batches, but an actively fermenting yeast is the best for direct pitching. You'll get a quick, clean fermentation from active yeast...no sense in making them wake up just to lose that little bit of liquid that won't affect your beer.

X) Or I just use dry yeast

%90 of the time i prepare a starter, 1/2 cup dme per pint
Boiled in a flask which makes it wayyyyyy easier to cool.
The last question is harder to answer as i tend to be a lazy brewer...i may have a starter sitting for days if not weeks, if i feel the need i step it up: decant and add another pint boiled and cooled. The foam airlocks work great, although seems alot just use foil...i'm much too paranoid to use foil.
Stirplate also seems to help alot
never really understood mr. malty: are they talking about the amount of slurry or total amount of sterile wort used (decanted before stepping up?) i figure i at least have alot more yeast than i started with

1) Depends - if it needs it or not (see Mr. Malty)

2) Wort, of course - otherwise it's not a starter. How much? Well, you need a bigger starter for bigger beers (ABV and/or overall volume) - one size does not fit all. Again, see Mr. Malty.

3) Usually 2 days before I brew

exactly what yooper said, except i like to use the 100g of DME per 1L of water (i.e. 1.7L of water would get 170g DME), gotta love the metric system.

90% of the time
4oz of DME and 4cups boiling water Boil for 10 minutes
Cool in ice bath pitch to a glass jar shake shake shake
Keep lid on loosely
2-days before

1. Sometimes. I often use S-04 and never make a starter when using dry yeast. If I'm using liquid I usually make a starter depending on the OG.

2. I use Jamil's advice from Brewing Classic Styles - i.e. 10:1 ratio, 10ml water to 1 gram DME so 200g DME in a 2L starter.

3. I make mine the afternoon or evening before brewday - usually gives me 16 - 20 hours before pitching.

THANKS for all of the info! This is some great stuff.

In retrospect, I should have noted that I have only used dry yeast so far. It sounds like most of you use liquid yeast. I guess the first question should have been:

0) What kind of yeast do you use? (always dry, always liquid, depends on the beer)

0.1) If dry, do you a) rehydrate, b) make starter, or c) neither, just pitch it from the packet?

0) mostly liquid (or repitched slurry from a beer that used a liquid yeast), dry yeast on occasion

0.1) rehydrate, no starter with dry yeast

Also, for liquid yeast starters I use 1oz DME per cup of H2O.

peripatetic said:

THANKS for all of the info! This is some great stuff.

In retrospect, I should have noted that I have only used dry yeast so far. It sounds like most of you use liquid yeast. I guess the first question should have been:

0) What kind of yeast do you use? (always dry, always liquid, depends on the beer)

0.1) If dry, do you a) rehydrate, b) make starter, or c) neither, just pitch it from the packet?

Click to expand...

0) Half dry, Half liquid- I make about 50% American Beer and 50% Belgian beer, for the vast majority of the american brews, I'll use s-05

0.1) Always rehydrate in preboiled water, I use BrewPal software to tell me if I need more than a standard sachet of yeast. If its close to 11g, I just go with one sachet.