Seriously...another yeast starter question? Yep! (For 10 gallon batches)

I'm going to be brewing 10-12gal batches. I want to try a yeast starter, but all the stuff I've been able to read has been instructions for 5gal batches. I bought the recommended 2000ml starter kit from Northern Brewer. But I'm struggling to figure out how much DME, water, packets of yeast, etc. to use as well as the general process.

I've used Mr. Malty's Pitch Calculator. Here's what it gave me:
# of yeast cells needed=354 Billion
# of viles needed with a yeast starter=2
# of liters of starter required=2.23

If I'm reading the numbers right, my 2000ml flask will not work because I'll need 2230ml of starter. But, I was wondering if I could go ahead and use it anyway.

I'm also wondering about the actual process of making the starter.

Can I pitch 2 Wyeast Smack Packs into the flask, added to 1500ml of water mixed with 2 cups of DME? Or do I have to step the yeast production?

If so, am I getting the process right:
PART 1: Pitch 1 Wyeast Smack Pack into about 4 cups of water mixed with 1 cup of DME. Let it ferment for 24 hours. Remove wort off the top of the yeast cake.

PART 2: Pitch the second Wyeast Smack Pack into 7.5/8 cups of water mixed with 2 cups of DME. Let it ferment for 24 hours. Pitch.

I'm thinking that a 2000ml (8.43cups) flask is going to be cramped with fermenting yeast and 7.5-8 cups of water. Should I simply pitch one yeast starter into the primary fermenter and then add a Wyeast Smack Pack into the primary too? I'm struggling here. Help! Thanks!

I'm new to this stuff so my measurements might be off. If someone would be willing to give me a step-by-step explanation, that would be great. I want to do this right. So any of you 10gal brewers who use yeast starters, let me know what you do. Thanks again.

just do a step up starter . Start with say 1300 ml let it go chill decant liquid and then add 1000ml of cooled wort to the cake.

I would acquire a stir plate. They increase your workable wort volume since the stirring keeps the foam down a bit (fermcap helps as well) and massively increases the amt of yeast produced while shortening the time to produce it. You'll see in the mr malty calculator how much difference there is. Only down side is I always seem to forget the magnet and into the fermenter it goes everytime I pitch. Then I have to wait for fermentation to finish to retrieve it.

dan

Yeah! Thanks MNDan. I actually picked up a stir plate yesterday. Should be here early next week. Springer, I emailed Mr. Malty with your suggestion along with one other I got elsewhere.

I asked which of the two solutions recommended to me so far was best.

1. Start with 1300ml of wort and 1 pack of Wyeast. Let it ferment, decoct the wort off and then add another 1000ml of wort, let it ferment and pitch it.

OR

2. Start with 2000ml of wort and 2 packs of Wyeast. Let it ferment, decoct the wort off and then pitch it.

He said: "Either is fine and both will work well. I also use a 2 L flask, just because I'm too lazy to go get a bigger one. Do the first option."

So thanks again for the input. It'll save me $5-$7 every time I brew because I'll only have to buy one yeast pack rather than two.

Next you will need a pressure canner. Once you've used canned wort, you'll never go back to boiling up DME. Pop a top on a quart jar or two, pore it in the flask, pitch the yeast, and go!

First thing I do is plan well ahead. For my first 10 gallon lager (first in sometime) I actually started with about 10ml of slurry from a Whitelabs vial and pitched that into a 50ml starter. Let that ferment and drop, pitch that slurry into something 300ml. I have the glass up to 2000ml but needed like 2 gallons. I had some 3 quart apple juice jugs and towards the end just boiled the started in glass, cooled and dumped in the sanitized jugs.

My starter wort was 1lb LME for every 4000ml or 1oz for every 250ml.