How to make a starter for my wyeast smack pack?

I know the smack packs don't need a starter but I'd like to make one since it got shipped in a hot truck then went to my fridge for a few days now. So how do I make a starter for it?

gregiscool said:

I know the smack packs don't need a starter but I'd like to make one since it got shipped in a hot truck then went to my fridge for a few days now. So how do I make a starter for it?

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Actually smack packs, and any liquid yeast do need a starter. It's really a good idea to make starters when using ANY liguid yeast for all beers above 1.020 OG...

The biggest reason I suggest folks make a starter is if you make one you'll have peace of mind.

And you won't be starting an "is my yeast dead" thread in a couple of days. (Which then one of us will answer with...."Had you made a starter..."

Making a starter first insures that your yeast is still alive and viable before you dump it in your beer. You will be less likely to start one of those "is my yeast dead?" threads that are on here every day.

You will also ensure that you have enough yeast usually the tubes and smack packs are a lot less yeast that you really should use for healthy fermentation.

Making a starter also usually means your beer will take off sooner, because the first thing that the little buggers do in the presence of wort (whether in a flask or in a fermenter) is have an orgy to reproduce enough cells to do the job...So it won't take such a long time in the fermenter since they started doing it in the flask.

Additionally it is better for the yeast to consume and reproduce incrementally rather than just dumping them into the fermenter...The yeast will be less stressed out than if you just dump them in.

Stressed out yeast can lead to a lot of off flavors...maybe even (though rare) the dreaded autolysis....Or the curse of 1.030....getting a stuck fermentation because the yeast have bit the dust.

So making a starter proves your yeast is still healthy, allows you to grow enough yeast to do the job, cuts down on lag time, and ensures that you will not get off flavors or stuck ferementations from stressed out yeast.

Also has to do with the actual pitch rates of the smack packs and tubes, and has to do with the data that Jamil Z has on his mr malty website.

I'll quote some of it, but really you should look at the stuff there;

http://www.mrmalty.com/pitching.php

Ales & Lagers

The general consensus on pitching rates is that you want to pitch around 1 million cells of viable yeast, for every milliliter of wort, for every degree plato. A little less for an ale, a little more for a lager. George Fix states about 1.5 million for a lager and 0.75 million for an ale in his book, An Analysis of Brewing Techniques. Other literature cites a slightly higher amount. I'm going with Fix's numbers and that is what the pitching calculator uses.
The Math

If you're curious, here is the simple math to calculate the number of cells needed. For an ale, you want to pitch around 0.75 million cells of viable yeast (0.75 million for an ale, 1.5 million for a lager), for every milliliter of wort, for every degree plato.

(0.75 million) X (milliliters of wort) X (degrees Plato of the wort)

* There is about 3785 milliliters in a gallon. There are about 20,000 milliliters in 5.25 gallons.

* A degree Plato is about 1.004 of original gravity. Just divide the OG by 4 to get Plato (e.g., 1.048 is 12 degrees Plato).

So, for a 1.048 wort pitching into 5.25 gallons you need about 180 billion cells.

(750,000) X (20,000) X (12) = 180,000,000,000

As an easy to remember rough estimate, you need about 15 billion cells for each degree Plato or about 4 billion cells for each point of OG when pitching into a little over 5 gallons of wort. If you want a quick way of doing a back of the envelope estimate, that is really close to 0.75 billion cells for each point of gravity per gallon of wort. Double that to 1.5 billion for a lager.
Pitching From Tubes, Packs, or Dry Yeast

Both White Labs and Wyeast make fantastic products and you can't go wrong with either one. There are differences between their strains and each brand has pluses and minuses yet neither is better than the other across the board. Use the brand your local homebrew shop carries, if you need a way to decide.

A White Labs tube has between 70 and 120 billion cells of 100% viable yeast, depending on the yeast strain. Some cells are much larger than others and there are more or less per ml based on size. (The information on the White Labs web site stating 30 to 50 billion cells is out of date.) We can just assume there are around 100 billion very healthy yeast. You would need 2 tubes if you were pitching directly into 5.5 gallons of 1.048 wort to get the proper cell counts.

A Wyeast Activator pack (the really big ones) and the pitchable tubes have an average of 100 billion cells of 100% viable yeast. The smaller packs are around 15-18 billion cells. You would need 2 of the large packs if you were pitching directly into 5.5 gallons of 1.048 wort to get the proper cell counts. For the small packs, you'd need eleven of them!

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But to make it easier he has a great pitch rate calculator http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

And according to his numbers on his calculator, really any beer above 1.020, you should be making a starter for.

Me personally when I use liquid yeast I just make a starter. I may not be as anal as some brewers and makes sure that I have the exact cellcount for whatever gravity beer I am making, but I do make one for the above reasons I mentioned, namely peace of mid, and a reduction in lag time.

Seriously, that's one way to insure you have clean tasting beer, not to stress out or underpitch your yeast. You may find the "bothering" to make a starter will make even the less than best kit beer come out tasting great.

How to make one;

What you need to create a simple starter:

•Extra light DME (3-4oz)

•1 quart water

•4-6 quart sauce pan with lid

•Pyrex flask or masn jar, or any container

•Tin foil

•Room temperature liquid yeast or dry yeast that has been re hydrated in 95F-105F water


The process:

•Bring 1 quart of water to a boil in the sauce pan.

•Measure 3-4 oz of DME and introduce this to the boiling water, stir well, boil 10 minutes.

•Remove from heat, placing lid on the sauce pan.

•Cool the starter wort in a shallow, cold water bath or in the refrigerator until it reaches the target fermentation temperature of the beer you will brew with it.

•Once cool, pour the starter wort into a sanitized flask or carboy.


•Secure a piece of tin foil on the opening of the flask or carboy and shake vigorously to aerate the wort.


•Pitch the yeast (add yeast into the flask / carboy containing the aerated wort).

•Seal container with a clean piece of foil, or a cork fitted with an air lock.

The Cliff Notes version:

Yes, you need a starter.

Boil 2 cups water. Add 1/2 cup DME. Cool, and put in a sanitized growler. Add yeast. Cover with sanitized foil. Give it a little shake every time you walk by it. Brew in a day or two. Add that yeast starter to your cooled wort.

I much prefer the Cliff notes version, but would suggest you double the size. i.e. 4 cups of water and 3/4 - 1 cup DME. A small amount of yeast nutrient could also be added.
That will give you a much higher cell count.

-a.

Thanks guys. I'll be brewing it up tomorrow. I'll relax with some wine though, my next batch isn't ready yet

and thanks revvy u always got great advice!

Yooper_Brew said:

The Cliff Notes version:

Yes, you need a starter.

Boil 2 cups water. Add 1/2 cup DME. Cool, and put in a sanitized growler. Add yeast. Cover with sanitized foil. Give it a little shake every time you walk by it. Brew in a day or two. Add that yeast starter to your cooled wort.

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Yooper

Thank you
You call it Cliff notes I call it k.i.s.s this has now been added into my hand written k.i.s.s book

Yooper, so we should let it sit for 1-2 days? do we need to refrigerate it at all b4 pitching or keep it at beer temp all the way through?

oasisbliss said:

Yooper, so we should let it sit for 1-2 days? do we need to refrigerate it at all b4 pitching or keep it at beer temp all the way through?

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You can pitch at "high krausen", at about 12-18 hours after making the starter. I always seem to miss that, and pitch it a bit later at about 24 hours. If I'm making a big starter (3 liters+), then I"ll chill and decant the spent wort, but pitching the whole thing is fine.

Thanks!