Mocktoberfest (marzen)- should i make a yeast starter with harvested yeast?

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mhayden37

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I harvested yeast (wyeast 1056) from a batch of cream ale last week Friday. I plan to brew this marzen tomorrow but am not sure if I harvested enough yeast. OG should be about 1.060. Mr malty says I need 107 ml of yeast slurry. I think I have about 95 ml and am not sure of the quality. Should I make a yeast starter first or just bring the yeast up to room temp and then pitch. BTW this was my first time harvesting yeast and would be my first time making a yeast starter so any other advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
 
go with the yeast starter. not only should it up the cell count a bit, but it will wake up all the other yeast cells so they're ready to start feeding on your beer. you'll get less lag time, therefore less chance for a wild yeast/bacteria to get at your beer.
 
I wouldn't use 1056 in a marzen, or is that why your naming it "mocktoberfest" haha, anyway an easy way of making a starter for harvested yeast is to just boil the DME and cool it like normal then pour it in the bottle of yeast and put on an airlock. A 22 oz bottle works great for this or even a Bud Ice 40 oz haha, I just pour out the trub first then pour the starter in. hope this helps
 
I wouldn't use 1056 in a marzen, or is that why your naming it "mocktoberfest" haha, anyway an easy way of making a starter for harvested yeast is to just boil the DME and cool it like normal then pour it in the bottle of yeast and put on an airlock. A 22 oz bottle works great for this or even a Bud Ice 40 oz haha, I just pour out the trub first then pour the starter in. hope this helps

Don't agree with the last part of this. Starters less than 1L are counterproductive, and don't use an airlock. Use sanitized foil to allow gas exchange.
 
Don't agree with the last part of this. Starters less than 1L are counterproductive, and don't use an airlock. Use sanitized foil to allow gas exchange.
How are they counterproductive? Your basically just giving the yeast some food to wake it up before you pitch (when you use yeast from a previous batch)
 
How are they counterproductive? Your basically just giving the yeast some food to wake it up before you pitch (when you use yeast from a previous batch)

Well I guess counterproductive might not be the right word, but it doesn't really gain you much, if any, yeast growth (per Chris White) when using a smack pack. I can't imagine this is much different with harvested yeast. I think to get to the right pitch rate, you'd need a bigger starter.

Edit: Here are posts from another thread:


You quoted these number from Yeast wrong.
Correction:
.5 L = 12 billion cells
1 L = 52 billion cells
1.5 L = 81 billion cells
2 L = 105 billion cells

If your dealing with White Labs vials, since there is no nutrient pack, it's probably not a bad idea to re-vitalize the yeast with a starter of some kind.
I agree 500 ml is a waste of time. If you are going to take the time to make a starter you might as well make it worth your while.
 
Well I guess counterproductive might not be the right word, but it doesn't really gain you much, if any, yeast growth (per Chris White) when using a smack pack. I can't imagine this is much different with harvested yeast. I think to get to the right pitch rate, you'd need a bigger starter.

Edit: Here are posts from another thread:

What are those figures representative of? Is that how much year is produced by the respective amount of starter wort? If so, how much yeast was pitched in the starter originally?
 
Well I guess counterproductive might not be the right word, but it doesn't really gain you much, if any, yeast growth (per Chris White) when using a smack pack. I can't imagine this is much different with harvested yeast. I think to get to the right pitch rate, you'd need a bigger starter.

Edit: Here are posts from another thread:

Yeah, I agree that when using fresh yeast from a pack that you want to build it up before you pitch, But harvested yeast has already built up the cell count. I was just sharing what I do before I pitch harvested yeast
 
What are those figures representative of? Is that how much year is produced by the respective amount of starter wort? If so, how much yeast was pitched in the starter originally?

wyeast has 100 billion yeast cells in their smack packs, But since your yeast is from a previous batch, it is probably double that.
 
Similar to the original post, I harvested my first yeast from a previous batch. After reading the posts, I will definitely make at least a 1L starter. How much of my harvested yeast should I use for the starter? I harvested about half of a quart of yeast. Any suggestions would be great!
 
Similar to the original post, I harvested my first yeast from a previous batch. After reading the posts, I will definitely make at least a 1L starter. How much of my harvested yeast should I use for the starter? I harvested about half of a quart of yeast. Any suggestions would be great!

How long has the yeast been in the fridge?
 
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