Pitching White Labs
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flyangler18
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Boodlemania
Well-Known Member
+1 on the starter. 1st WL vial I used w/o a starter. After seeing/tasting the difference, never again.
JMG680
Well-Known Member
I just pitch to the carboy. I looked up the # cells in the white labs and it was pretty high. I may start now after reading up on brewing here. But on 3 5gal brews I have not had any problems on just pitching right in.
cuinrearview
Well-Known Member
I've done both but I always make a starter now. Faster starts and smoother flavor in the finished product.
SeamusMac
Well-Known Member
I'm pitching my Wyeast 3068 straight from the activator pack into the carboy full of apple juice for my Apfelwein. I've read that slower fermentation leads to greater retention of esters produced, which I'm looking to hold onto to strengthen the clove/fruity flavours in my Apfelwein.
So in my case (if I understand everything correctly) a starter might not give me what I want, but for beer it's always advisable to make a starter when using liquid yeast.
So in my case (if I understand everything correctly) a starter might not give me what I want, but for beer it's always advisable to make a starter when using liquid yeast.
Shawn Hargreaves
Well-Known Member
The consensus on here seems to be that you should always make a starter.
But...
I don't always bother with that
I get great results just tossing a vial directly into the fermenter. There are definitely advantages to doing the starter, but (especially for lower alcohol brews) you can make perfectly good beer without.
But...
I don't always bother with that
I get great results just tossing a vial directly into the fermenter. There are definitely advantages to doing the starter, but (especially for lower alcohol brews) you can make perfectly good beer without.
Brew-boy
Well-Known Member
I will not brew if I did not make a starter, that's how important it is to me.
Hokie
Well-Known Member
The one style I feel perfectly comfortable pitching directly from the Activator pack is Hefeweizen (3068 I believe). As Jamil says, slightly underpitching this strain will stress the yeast enough to provide the phenolics you are looking for. Obviously this would not be advantageous for other ales where cleanliness is desired.
+1 on the starter. I now know that there is no other option.
If you put in all the work to get the wort to the point of fermentation, why not finish your hard work by giving it all the chances to succeed the best it can?
If you put in all the work to get the wort to the point of fermentation, why not finish your hard work by giving it all the chances to succeed the best it can?
SumnerH
Well-Known Member
With both Wyeast activators and white labs vials, I make a starter. If I get a sudden urge to brew something that _requires_ a liquid yeast on Friday, I'll either wait another week or suck it up and shell out the $$ to get 2 yeast packs so I'm not underpitching.
You could always get your starter started, brew your beer as normal and just pitch when it is ready to. I have done this before, it also allows you to stabilize the temp of the fermentor even more.
