Yeast activation question

Im brewing tomorrow. Should I go ahead and activate the pack? If it does swell what do I do with it afterwards just leave it where its at?

You really should be making a starter with liquid yeast for any beer over 1.030 og. If you're making a starter smacking the pack is irrevelant.

Well I only have enough dme for my recipe...is it ok to use some of that to make a starter? I have never used liquid yeast before so I have never made a starter.

just smack it a few hours before to need to pitch it. let it sit at room temp, it won't take long until it swells up. Yes, you should make a starter but it will still do the job unless it is a high gravity brew. I have pitch liquid yeast without a starter many times and all the beers turned out good. The fermentation won't take off as quick but it will after a couple of days.

Nimand said:

Well I only have enough dme for my recipe...is it ok to use some of that to make a starter? I have never used liquid yeast before so I have never made a starter.

Click to expand...

Making a starter is easy, and yes if you had only the dme for the recipe you can make a starter with 1/2 cup of that and 2 cups of water, and just add it ALL to your wort, starter beer and all.

But another option is to go to your grocery store and if they have an international foods isle get yourself a sixer of malta goya and use that.

Ok so Ive never done a starter...so use a 1/2 cup of my dme 2 cups of water boil cool pitch yeast and cover? That it? Can I use it tomorrow?

with a new pouch of liquid yeast, you'll be fine just smacking it when you start to brew, or a little while before that. then pour it into your primary as is.

I went through the stress of making a starter just a few hours in advance, and having it not do anything visible before I pitched it in. It still worked fine.

If you make a starter, make it a couple days in advance so that you're sure it's doing the right thing.

heckler73 said:

with a new pouch of liquid yeast, you'll be fine just smacking it when you start to brew, or a little while before that. then pour it into your primary as is.

I went through the stress of making a starter just a few hours in advance, and having it not do anything visible before I pitched it in. It still worked fine.

If you make a starter, make it a couple days in advance so that you're sure it's doing the right thing.

Click to expand...

There rarely is anything "visible" in a starter...that doesn't mean nothing's happenning....

Activity in a starter really only means one thing and one thing only.

It doesn't matter one blip in your fermenter or your starter flask if the airlock bubbles or not (if you are using an airlock and not tinfoil if you are using tinfoil, you aren't getting bibbling anyway,) or if you see a krauzen. In fact starter fermentation are some of the fastest or slowest but most importantly, the most boring fermentations out there. Usually it's done withing a few hours of yeast pitch...usually overnight when we are sleeping, and the starter looks like nothing ever happened...except for the little band at the bottom. Or it can take awhile...but either way there's often no "activity" whatsoever....

I usually run my stirplate for the first 24 hours, then shut it down, if you are spinning your starter it is really hard to get a krausen to form anyway, since it's all spinning, and there's often a head of foam on it from the movement.


All that really matters is that creamy band o yeast at the bottom.




This is a chilled sample so it's flocculated, but even with an unchilled sample you should see a band of yeast at the bottom. Here's an unchilled version



Same thing, a band.

As it is I've only ever seen two or three krausens actually on my starter (one blew off a bunch of krausen and knocked the tinfoil off the flask,) and the evidence of one on the flask at the "waterline" once. But I've never not had a starter take off.

Look for the yeast at the bottom, don't worry what it looks like on top.

If you have yeast on the bottom....that's all you really need.

If it looks anything like that, your are ready to either feed it again, or use it.

Although not the best, starting a starter the night before is still better than NOT making one at all.

I was hoping to poke you into an even more detailed answer.. thanks!

now.. how do you make a starter from LME? I've only found DME recipes for how much DME and water to use, but suspect using the same LME as my boil will make a better "full dump" of the starter into the wort.

I dont have a flask...all I have big enough it looks like is a mai thai glass that holds 3 cups of water is this ok?

Nimand said:

I dont have a flask...all I have big enough it looks like is a mai thai glass that holds 3 cups of water is this ok?

Click to expand...

ANy container, glass or plastic can be used to make a starter.