Help with my yeast starter, i dont think its going to start anything...

I made my first yeast starter today, a bit frantically with a friend. I am a perfecting type, I guess, where as he is not. It went ok, nothing bad happened, racked my beer and made the starter. My question is, I used 2/3cup (a little less) Gold DME and 500ml water before boil, I have ~375mL wort in my starter...

Can someone do the math for me, that seems entirely too strong, am I wrong? Should I add some water to the starter, or is that a risk I shouldnt take?

There is nothing wrong with your starter, it's just a little strong, most brewers use around 1/2 cup DME and 500ml water. Don't add water to it, just add the yeast and then step it up to 1L if you want to build up the numbers even more. As long as you provide plenty of oxygen, there will be lots of cell growth.

Thank you very much! I have been loving everything about brewing from day one, the switch to all grain was the best decision I could have made. I love it all!

dollhousebrewery said:

I made my first yeast starter today, a bit frantically with a friend. I am a perfecting type, I guess, where as he is not. It went ok, nothing bad happened, racked my beer and made the starter. My question is, I used 2/3cup (a little less) Gold DME and 500ml water before boil, I have ~375mL wort in my starter...

Can someone do the math for me, that seems entirely too strong, am I wrong? Should I add some water to the starter, or is that a risk I shouldnt take?

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Be Cool........ OK? What are you brewing? Most starters are about 1.050 or so. Do you have a hydrometer? Also most starters are measured in L, not ml. Did you pitch the whole pack or vial into the starter? You mention wort. You have already made your wort before you made your starter? You racked your beer and made a starter? I guess i'm too old to understand cuz i'm really cunfuzed.........

Sorry, it was poorly written.

I do have a hydrometer, I do not know why I did not take a reading, too excited or something. I was running on pour ingenuity, and a little faded memory of reading how to do it before the summer started. I pitched the whole vial, I thought 500mL seemed reasonable. I forgot to get a scale on my way home, and so I had to measure with measuring cups. And I was trying to make 500mL wort, I didnt think of making it weak. Like I said, I was just doing this without really knowing what I was doing, an experiment I guess.

Oh well, it was fun, next time I will make a bigger one!

I take it that you racked a beer and then made a starter from the yeast you got from the racked beer. There is no need to make a starter from a yeast cake as it is already good to go. Just use that yeast on a new beer.

Here is some good information about yeast and starters from Jamil Zainasheff. I would recommend at least a 1 liter starter for proper yeast growth. Mr.Malty

No, I was merely mentioning that I racked my beer (I shouldnt have even said anything about it.) I used a new vial of White Labs Irish Ale to make the starter.

good yeast i usually start with 1/2 cup in 2 cups water to boil, then i top off to 800mL...then you can step it up a few times over the next couple of days (if you have the time)

shake vigorously for 24 hours (the starter i mean)

i'm sure your starter is fine

I actually have too much time... I have a few days... I wasn't really thinking about what I was doing apparently, I just wanted to do something. If I have to buy more yeast, so be it, at least I am learning whats going on.

I've a question about people doing hydro readings on starters. how the heck do you get enough for the sample? I usually do 1 gr. per 10 ml h2o and ramp up. never had enough for a proper sample

Ender said:

I've a question about people doing hydro readings on starters. how the heck do you get enough for the sample? I usually do 1 gr. per 10 ml h2o and ramp up. never had enough for a proper sample

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If you are not using the original wort, most folks cook up a 2 - 3 liter batch of DME at about 1.040 -1.050. Keep covered and refrigerated till needed for feeding. Either flame the mouth of the flask or use sanitizer, and decant what is needed into the starter vessel, also flamed or sanitized. Continue until you have grown a starter large enough for your needs. Usually ~2L for ales or ~3L for lagers.

I considered it a failure (unable to even return home in 24hrs) so now it is experimental. I am making a starter to move it back into. I am also going to see if it is possible to create a large enough quantity to store in multiple vials (like I said, I am experimenting). It should be fun!