Mr. Malty and yeast starters

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Dave258

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2009
Messages
612
Reaction score
10
Location
New York
I am thinking of getting the Pliny Clone from AHS and doing some research on what to pitch in a big beer.

AHS suggest to double pitch, but Mr. Malty says I can get away with a 3 liter starter.
Does a three liter starter sound like it would work? I think the OG is 1.071 and the yeast theay are recomending is Wyeast 1056 American Ale. I wonder if they are out of WLP001. I have never used Wyeast yet.

If the three liter starter is good, can I build on a 2 liter? I only have a 2 liter flask.
Make a two liter starter, leave on stirplate for 2 days, let settle, decant, add new starter wort let stir another 2 days?
How does that sound?
As always, thanks for the help on this great site!!!!
 
if you have a stir plate it says you only need a 1.3 liter starter

That is if you start with 2 vials of yeast I think. Am I reading it wrong?

I only want to use one vial of yeast (save 7.00) and make a bigger starter.
I slid the slider on the bottom until it said 1 vial, and that is where it says a 3.14 Liter starter. I also changed the Production date, of the yeast figuring I will not get yeast produced in January.
 
I think you are reading it wrong. Did you change the dropdown to stirplate?

yes. If you leave the production date of the yeast at today's date, it says 1.32 liter starter. But isn't that if the yeast is packaged today?

I just looked at a vial of WLP300 I have in the fridge for a Dunkelweizen I am brewing soon. The best before date is April 15, 2010. It then says that the package date is 4 months before the best before date. Meaning that that yeast was put in the vial on or around December 15.

Do you guys not change the production date when calculating the size of your starter?
 
yes. If you leave the production date of the yeast at today's date, it says 1.32 liter starter. But isn't that if the yeast is packaged today?

I just looked at a vial of WLP300 I have in the fridge for a Dunkelweizen I am brewing soon. The best before date is April 15, 2010. It then says that the package date is 4 months before the best before date. Meaning that that yeast was put in the vial on or around December 15.

Do you guys not change the production date when calculating the size of your starter?

yeah, but it wont double the size of starter needed
 
yeah, but it wont double the size of starter needed

Uh, yes it will.

I set it back 2 months, and it went from 1.32 to 2.7 ....me calls that doubling.

OP, the prevailing wisdom here is that stepping up doesn't do anything. Yeast hit a "terminal concentration", in any wort, and stop reproducing. So, if you make a 2L starter, decant, then add 2L more wort, you will have the exact same amount of yeast in the end as you had before you decanted...

I don't really believe this prevailing wisdom, but that's just me. To do it "right", you need the size starter listed. You COULD make a 2L starter, then dump it into a 1 gallon jug and shake it around lots and hope you get close...or just stick with 2L and hope.
 
Thanks shorty. That is what I meant. I put it back 4 months, and that is when it said a 3 liter starter.
I thought if I would split it up and did 2 equal shots of 1500 ml of starter wort I could end up with a 3 liter starter.
Guess I'll need to buy a bigger flask already. Or be saved if the yeast is fresher.
 
OP, the prevailing wisdom here is that stepping up doesn't do anything. Yeast hit a "terminal concentration", in any wort, and stop reproducing. So, if you make a 2L starter, decant, then add 2L more wort, you will have the exact same amount of yeast in the end as you had before you decanted...



Is that what stepping up is considered around here? I would say stepping up is a gradual increase of starter size in order to increase yeast populations. So, say start with a 2L starter and add that yeast to 5L or something for a lager, or start with a Brett vial and throw that into 200-300ml, and then throw that into 2-3L.

Where is the stepping up if you keep the size of the starter the same?
 
Is that what stepping up is considered around here? I would say stepping up is a gradual increase of starter size in order to increase yeast populations. So, say start with a 2L starter and add that yeast to 5L or something for a lager, or start with a Brett vial and throw that into 200-300ml, and then throw that into 2-3L.

Where is the stepping up if you keep the size of the starter the same?

Sorry, used the wrong lingo. Stepping up means what you said, right. Start small, (few hundred mLs,), ferment that out, decant, pitch into 2L, repeat, etc.

The idea with stepping up is to not stress the yeast. You can't easily dump a culture from a slant into 2L of wort and have it grow up big and strong without lots of stress on the yeast....but again, prevailing wisdom is that, no matter how you get to 2L (or whatever), you'll always have the same concentration of yeast. Again, I don't quite believe this, but take it for what you will. Most of the "higher ups" around here in terms of experience preach the "terminal concentration" theory, (held by Sacc, Jamil, and others), so who am I to say no?
 
Uh, yes it will.

I set it back 2 months, and it went from 1.32 to 2.7 ....me calls that doubling.

OP, the prevailing wisdom here is that stepping up doesn't do anything. Yeast hit a "terminal concentration", in any wort, and stop reproducing. So, if you make a 2L starter, decant, then add 2L more wort, you will have the exact same amount of yeast in the end as you had before you decanted...

I don't really believe this prevailing wisdom, but that's just me. To do it "right", you need the size starter listed. You COULD make a 2L starter, then dump it into a 1 gallon jug and shake it around lots and hope you get close...or just stick with 2L and hope.

oh, well i never buy yeast more than 2 weeks old
 
I'm just baffled by the notion that you could ever need more than one vial of yeast for a 1-2 liter starter when one vial is enough to pitch into a full 5 gallon batch of a similar gravity beer.
 
Okay (I'm sure someone will tell me how wrong I am), but I choose to ignore the yeast viability rate. I've had plenty old packages of liquid yeast ferment perfectly fine with great results when Mr. Malty told me I underpitched.

I agree evil. Since liquid yeast is such a focking ripoff, I think they're just trying to sell you more.
 
While I pay attention to the package date on the yeast (LHBS sells Wyeast) and try to get the freshest I really have not made any accommodations with respect to "older" yeast. I always use a 1700-2000ml starter and put it on the stir plate for at least 24 hours (preferably 48). I am certain that I am not doing things by the book but this has worked well for me to this point with brewing ales. Montanaandy
 

Latest posts

Back
Top