Wort for the Starter Yeast

I have been brewing with extract for about 5 years off and on and I really want to make a barleywine recipe that requires a starter yeast to be made.

As I understand it I am supposed to put the yeast into about 2 quarts of wort about 2 to 3 days prior to brewing.

What do I make the wort out of? Do I need to make a full mini batch to make the yeast starter? Or is there something more simple to do?

Any help you can give is great...books or articles to read or a simple explanation.

Dregus

Here's a good video on making starters. Real straight forward.



Hope that helps!

I keep a bag of dry malt extract in my cupboard, just for making starters. You don't need hops or anything else- just boil 1/2 cup DME in 2 cups of water and then cool it. I put it in a growler with sanitized foil over the top and shake it up well and add the yeast. You can "step it up" the next day by adding some fresh wort that you make the same way and cool. If I'm doing a regular beer, I don't add fresh wort the next day- I just use it as is. For a lager, or for a higher OG beer, I step it up.

I like to make my lager starters a week or so in advance, so I can chill the container, and then decant the spent wort. For smaller starters, I just pitch the whole thing. Swirl well, to get all the yeast off of the bottom and into your wort.

Check out the starter section on Jamil's site, mrmalty.com