Noob liquid yeast questions

Hey all, I have a begian wit kit that I got from AHS that came with a vial of White labs yeast. This is my second extract kit and the first kit was done with dry yeast. I tried to look up starters on the wiki but didnt really find answers to my questions so I figured I will try to ask here and maybe someone can answer my questions or point me in the right direction. So here we go...

1. Do I have to make a starter for this yeast or can I just pitch from the vial, I have a feeling the answer will be starter.
2. I havent made a starter before and I dont have a stir plate or any of the equipment used to make starters. I could go to the LHBS and get some things just not sure what I really need to have. What would you recommend?
3. I was hoping to brew Sunday, is this going to happen or wait til next weekend and start the starter a few days before hand.

Thats all I have for now, I am sure I will think of more. Thanks for the help in advance! Cheers!! :rockin::rockin:

Starters are basically a way of making more yeast from the 100 billion or so cells that are in your White Labs vial. There's good information about starters at mrmalty.com, http://www.mrmalty.com/starter_faq.htm

You will still have beer whether or not you make a starter, but pitching the right amount of yeast is important for getting the kind of flavor profile that you are looking for. In order to pitch the right amount of yeast for your particular beer, you could either pitch several white labs vials or make a starter. A lot of people chose the latter option, if only because it is a lot cheaper.

I like to make my starters a five or six days ahead of time so that I can cold crash it and decant off the spent wort, but 2 days should be enough time to get a starter built up properly. A stir plate is extremely nice, but if you shake your starter frequently you can have good results even without one.

I would alway recommend a starter for liquid yeast. The yeast you got from your LHBS could have low viability depending on the production date. A starter ensures a healthy start to your fermentation.

Thanks for the responses guys, I appreciate it! I am going to make a starter I have decided. I am going to the LHBS at lunch to pick up some DME and a container for the starter. I read through all of DB's post on starters and the Mr Malty link as well. I dont have a stir plate or access to one. I work about 10-11 hours a day and everything says to swirl about every hour, obviously with work I cant do that. Is this going to be ok if I just swirl in the morning before work and then every hour or so when I am home before bed?

Even if you don't swirl it at all it will still be a starter. More swirling means more oxygen exchange. I often think that this whole 1 hour interval sound a little like an OCD. Without swirling there will not be any huge difference in the final beer, just do what works for you.

A lot of people still just pitch the vial and it's still beer, it just tastes a little different.

:rockin: Excellent, thanks theredben!

I believe mr malty will give you a cell count for a basic starter, which would mean no intermittent shaking. You will still increase your cell count, just not as much. I currently don't have stir plate, but I have one on the way!

when I used white labs yeast, I would put it in my pocket at the start of the brew day
That would warm it up so you didn't shock it, and also keep it mixing
never had a problem

sjbeerman said:

I believe mr malty will give you a cell count for a basic starter, which would mean no intermittent shaking. You will still increase your cell count, just not as much. I currently don't have stir plate, but I have one on the way!

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Yeah I did notice that on the Mr Malty site, and mainly that is what will be happening but I am still gunna swirl the little buggers when I am around hoping that will help a little more than just sitting there. Nice on the stir plate, I may need to invest in one soon also. Thanks for the help!

certaut said:

when I used white labs yeast, I would put it in my pocket at the start of the brew day
That would warm it up so you didn't shock it, and also keep it mixing
never had a problem

Click to expand...

I may give this a try but I already went to the LHBS and bought light DME and a 2000ml conical flask to give this a go. Thanks for the idea though its much appreciated!!

Oh I do have one more question, for now at least. When I ordered the kit I guess I included yeast nutrient. Its a little gel cap looking deal, should I add this to the starter or add into the fermenter when pitching the yeast? Thanks again.

dos_perros said:

Oh I do have one more question, for now at least. When I ordered the kit I guess I included yeast nutrient. Its a little gel cap looking deal, should I add this to the starter or add into the fermenter when pitching the yeast? Thanks again.

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If you have enough, add it to both. I add a small amount of powdered nutrient during wort boil for both my starters and my main beers. If you've only got enough for one, that's an interesting question...I'm not sure which would be a better choice. My gut tells me that, since you'll have more reproduction in your main fermentation that you want it there, but I'd be interested in hearing opposing viewpoints.

If you've only got one, I would suggest tossing that yeast nutrient in during the last 10 minutes of the main boil. Of course you could always open up the gel cap and put a pinch in the starter while saving the rest for your main boil.

I always thought it was better to add nutrient to the starter rather than the wort since you want most of your cell growth to occur there. Therefore, the nutrient would help produce healthy yeast prior to pitching. However, for high gravity brews I read that its good idea to add more nutrient during the initial part of fermentation. I could be wrong, but I have adding the nutrient to the starter and not the wort.

sjbeerman said:

I always thought it was better to add nutrient to the starter rather than the wort since you want most of your cell growth to occur there. Therefore, the nutrient would help produce healthy yeast prior to pitching. However, for high gravity brews I read that its good idea to add more nutrient during the initial part of fermentation. I could be wrong, but I have adding the nutrient to the starter and not the wort.

Click to expand...

My understanding was that, even with a big starter, the bulk of your yeast growth is still happening in the beer. Now that I think about it, though, I don't have any specific numbers to back that up. Anyone know what final yeast population tends to be at the end of a fermentation?