Barley Wine starter

I know there is a different thread going about the same subject but do not want to hijack this and mine is a little different.

I am about to do a BW from a kit from my LHBS. The yeast was a BW specific one. I made a starter of 1 pint on Saturday night and have not been able to brew the beer yet. I think the starter mostly fermented the next day and has been sitting idle with a airlock since in a 73 degree room. I will probably be able to brew Friday or Saturday. Can I just pitch some more light wort in the starter to reinvigorate it tonight or tomorrow to get it in shape for this weekend. From a 1 pint starter how big can I go for the next step up?

FYI my starter vessels include a growler and 1000ml erlmeyer flask so what are my options if i need to go bigger?

If you pitched 1 vial or pac into a 1k starter that will not be big enough for a BW. When I did mine BW1.112 it was 2 vials into a 3k starter. You should check out Mrmalty.com if you have not already done so.

Maybe a gallon plastic juice jug? Or split the current starter into the growler and flask?

See the mrMaly pitching rate calc

I think it may be a good idea to brew a smaller beer with the same yeast and throw the BW on the cake. I think that would be optimum.

Agreed. I like a 5 gallon starter for BW. A delicious 5 gallon starter.

permo said:

I think it may be a good idea to brew a smaller beer with the same yeast and throw the BW on the cake. I think that would be optimum.

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Never done a yeast cake before but started thinking about it as I tend to brew in series and would like to make the most of each mess I make in the kitchen, so I like that idea. Just to clarify on the starter I have though. If it has been sitting a week I do need to repitch to some more light wort to reenergize before adding it to a 5 gal batch? Right now I am putting together my MLT to start going all grain but do not think it will be ready to take advantage of this starter. So I would appreciate any extract recipe that would go good with the BW yeast and make a good cake to eat for the BW batch.

A 1 pint starter is too small for pretty much anything. Step it up to at least a qt. Then brew a 1.050ish pale ale with it and use the entire slurry from that for the BW.

I've got a Sierra Nevada Celebration ale about to go into secondary. Not that I can ever have too much Pale Ale but is there another style beer that will also prepare well for the BW? How about the SN yeast cake? Would it be a good starter for the BW, I think it is either California ale yeast or Brittish Ale yeast? Or would the BW yeast after brewing be a better choice for this beer?

I am going to use two sources for my yeast.

I would like to use the yeast cake from the Celebration Ale. Its been sitting in the primary for 2 weeks now as has the BW starter. I would use both on the BW, that I am hoping to brew today. One question is can I repitch the yeast cake into another carboy without harming it? The plan is to siphon the Celebration Ale in there into a secondary, leaving a little beer in there, agitate it to suspend the cake, poor into another carboy, add the BW wort, then pitch the BW starter. Are there any concerns with doing it this way?

BTW I am looking at doing this as this is my biggest carboy and I need it to make a 6 Gal batch of wine, otherwise I would just pitch on top of the cake.