Smack pack starter?

I've done about 10 5 gallon brews with the smack pack and never used a starter. LHBS always said just dump it in after 2 hours. I've seen some threads talking about starters with them. I've never had an issue just curious what others do.

I think it depends on the SG of your batches. What SGs do you generally brew? Lower SGs are generally fine with the yeast cell count of a smack pack or vial. So if your brewing has consisted of low SGs, you're probably ok. Personally, I think your beers will be better if you tune your cell count to what yeastcalc.com or one of the other cell calculators recommends, regardless of the gravity.

Notice all the "I think", "probably", "personally", etc. Brewing is science and art, so there's a certain amount of flexibility in the rules ;-) .

Oh, to answer your question, I've started making starters irregardless of the SG, and I think my beers are better now, than they were when I only used one smack pack or vial per batch.

I also never use a starter, although if I am making a particularly strong batch I will plan things out so I pitch onto an existing yeast cake. In 15 plus years of brewing I have never had an issue doing so. I have done the experiment a couple of times of making two batches of the same wort and using either a smack pack or a starter and have not noticed any difference.

I also use dry yeast without rehydrating... Pitch right into the beer...

Will the yeast ferment the beer? Yes. Are you making the beer the best it can be? No. Unless it is a very low gravity beer.

When pitching too little yeast which is the case with just a vial/pack of liquid yeast, the yeast must first reproduce to cell counts sufficient to do the fermentation. This is often where off flavors are introduced. If you make the starter the yeast will be healthier and quickly get into fermentation, reducing lag time and problems associated.

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.

Teromous said:

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.

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My last few batches have been with a starter. I like using them, there is no doubt they make for powerful fermentations.

Yeah, it definitely gives a more vigorous fermentation. It depends on the situation though. If I'm doing a lager or high alcohol beer I will use them. If I'm doing something fairly low-end or just decide one day that I want to brew, I might decide to forgo the starter.

I brew 5 gal batches and have made a starter for my last 2 batches and I've noticed a quicker start of fermentation. I just go to Mrmalty.com to calculate my pitch amount. I just brewed a choc oatmeal stout Sunday and made a 1.5 liter starter and decanted most of the spent liquid right before I pitched it.

I used Wyeast 1335 and the date was June 3rd (I guess not a very popular strain for my LBS). I smacked it in the morning and by night time I could barely tell it inflated. By the third day of my starter I had plenty of yeast at the bottom of my starter. Glad I didn't just pitch from the pack.

It might sound weird but it's kind of fun to make a starter, and it gets me mentally ready for brew day!

Pelican521 said:

It might sound weird but it's kind of fun to make a starter, and it gets me mentally ready for brew day!

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You're not alone Pelican!

JimRausch said:

You're not alone Pelican!

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Agreed! Plus with a starter, my beer usually starts fermenting in less than 8hrs and it's nice assurance that your yeast is viable.

I make a starter. I've seen Palmer as well as Chris & Jamil write that fresh, healthy, lab grown cultures can be used at pitch rates as low as 50% of what it says on calcs like Mr. Malty, but I haven't tested that theory myself. Seems reasonable and worth exploring, but as Pelican found, not all vials or packs are going to be equally fresh so a starter is a safe bet to ensure you have enough viable yeast with high vitality.