Starter Timing

Hi All,

This is going to be my first experience with a liquid yeast and starter so I want to make sure I have the timing down. I can only do stuff after 9:30 PM because I am an accountant and have no time so keep that in mind.

I will be brewing on Saturday, possibly Sunday. So here is my thinking, correct me where wrong.

Tuesday night, activate the smack pack
Thursday night, make starter
Swirl starter every chance I get after this.

Does that timing make sense? I just wanted to confirm my thinking. Thanks in advance!

Yes, that seems right. I try to time it so that my starter has been working 24 - 48 hours before pitching. Some people suggest less than that - 16 hours or so.

If you're using Wyeast you don't need to wait that long after hitting the smack pack but it isn't going to hurt anything so yeah, that's about right.

ok, so maybe start the actual starter Friday night?

no i mean you don't have to wait that long to pitch to the starter after smacking the pack. still make the starter thursday but you could smack it wednesday night or even thursday morning or afternoon. After 8 hours or so the Wyeast smack pack has done everything it's going to do.

smmcdermott said:

ok, so maybe start the actual starter Friday night?

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That's what I would do
don't know if it's the correct way
but it works for me

You don't need that much time between smacking the pack and making the starter. The swelling of the pack is mainly a viability tester.

Before and initially after the yeast, shake your starter container vigorously to aerate. You can also shake instead of swirl later, which drives off CO2 and re-introduces more oxygen in order to get better reproduction.

Are you planning on dumping the whole starter into your batch or decanting the starter wort and just pitching the yeast cake? If the latter, it's a good idea to chill the starter in the fridge the night before brewing to get the yeast to drop out of suspension.

For what it's worth, here's my method:
-Day 1 (72 hours before brew day): Make starter, aerate by shaking, pitch yeast, aerate. Then, shake some more later.
-Days 2-3: Intermittent shaking. Refrigerate night before (~12-24 hours before) brew day.
-Day 4: Brew day. As I begin brewing, I take starter out of fridge and decant. When ready to pitch, I refill the starter container with enough wort to use to swirl up the yeast cake and pitch.

+1 to refrigeration. JiveTurkey's method is my SOP too.

Alright, I will try that then. I will smack Thursday morning before work and then pitch to starter Thursday night. Then fridge and decant, pitching the cake. Thanks a lot!

Do you really need to have a starter with a smack pack?

earwig said:

Do you really need to have a starter with a smack pack?

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No, but it depends on your OG. Anything above 1.06 you'll need 2+ smack packs.

EDIT: Or if you are doing a lager you'll need around 3 or 4 smack packs.

mightynintendo said:

No, but it depends on your OG. Anything above 1.06 you'll need 2+ smack packs.

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In my opinion, anything above about 1.040 usually needs a starter.

mightynintendo said:

EDIT: Or if you are doing a lager you'll need around 3 or 4 smack packs.

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The pitching rate calculator on the Mr. Malty website is a helpful tool for determining starter volume OR # yeast packs necessary

www.mrmalty.com

Is there any rules of thumb as far as when you should decant your starter wort, versus just pitching it with the yeast? Should you always decant the liquid?

YooperBrew said:

In my opinion, anything above about 1.040 usually needs a starter.

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I have been using dry yeast w/ no starter or even rehydrating it and haven't had any problems yet. All 3 SGs were over 1.040, but whatever. I am going to try and rehydrate next time just for the fun of it. Maybe I'm just lucky.

Hethen57 said:

Is there any rules of thumb as far as when you should decant your starter wort, versus just pitching it with the yeast? Should you always decant the liquid?

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To be honest, most of the time it really doesn't matter. I know that we don't want to pitch aerated spent wort, but if it's a 1 liter starter, for example, that really doesn't affect the taste of a 19 liter (5 gallon) beer. For super large starters, like for lagers, I will probably decant. But really it's just a matter of personal preference for most of us. Or, probably more often timing!

If I was brewing this weekend, I'd make my starter tonight and let it ferment out completely. On about Friday, I'd stick it in the fridge and then Sunday decant and allow to come up to room temperature. However, if I was rushed, I'd make the starter Friday or Saturday and just pitch the whole thing.

YooperBrew said:

In my opinion, anything above about 1.040 usually needs a starter.

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More than agree. In fact in my opinion anything at all can only benefit unless you infect your starter somehow.

earwig said:

I have been using dry yeast w/ no starter or even rehydrating it and haven't had any problems yet. All 3 SGs were over 1.040, but whatever. I am going to try and rehydrate next time just for the fun of it. Maybe I'm just lucky.

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Hi Earwig. She was referring to liquid yeast. You never have to make a starter with dry yeast. Its already got plenty of cells. Rehydrating it is a good idea, but not essential.

Pappers said:

Hi Earwig. She was referring to liquid yeast. You never have to make a starter with dry yeast. Its already got plenty of cells. Rehydrating it is a good idea, but not essential.

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Correct! The question was about a "smack pack". Those are packages of liquid yeast, made only by Wyeast. There are supposed to be ok for up to 5 gallons of 1.060, with a cell count of 100 billion cells, according to Wyeast.

In practical use, though, it really is inadequate for most 5 gallon batches. That's why a starter is made- to get yeast reproduction before adding to the wort. Then, you should have enough yeast to get a proper fermentation, without stressed yeast.

Mrmalty.com has a great tool, called a yeast pitching calculator that is very useful when deciding whether to make a starter, what size starter to make, etc. I refer to that website all of the time, whenever I use liquid yeast.