Help a noob with yeast starter.

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rtracer

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I just received my yeast starter kit and stir plate form more beer.
My plan was to make a yeast starter Sunday for my upcoming brew day on Tuesday. My plan was to buy a new WL001 and go from there, but today I swapped my blow off tube from my fermenting batch, and went to a bubbler as Krausen is starting to fall . Yesterday I had Krausen bubbling up and out of my blowoff tube into my sani water bowl. Anyways, when I went to dump my water bowl I noticed what I assume is yeast at the bottom of the bowl. I went ahead and transferred maybe 2 TBS into a sanitized mason jar.
Can I start early and use this as my base yeast and grow a large enough starter from this?
Will there be enough time for this to grow enough for a high gravity(1.080ish) brew on Tuesday?
 
if mixed properly a sanitizer should most likely kill the yeast. This is a form of "top cropping" kind of. Top cropping yeast is very effective but into a sanitizer solution..uhh no you have to catch it clean. You can also "scoop" some off the top of your actively fermenting batch. What I did before I had a conical and a yeast catch was to make a starter and make more than I needed then put some into a sanitized jar and into the fridge for the next time I brewed. theres plenty of articles about doing that on here.
 
Oh, I thought I read that starsSan somehow fed yeast. Oh well, I guess I'll go to plan a and make a starter from a new pack this weekend. Fermenting in a carboy makes it difficult to just grab some.
Just got excited to use my new toys
 
I too just got a stir plate, will be starting my yeast tomorrow for my brewday Sunday. I plan to just overbuild my starters so then that way the yeast is already clean and less of a hassle. My last batch of brew i just scooped it out of the bottom of the fermenter when I was done transferring and i got enough yeast to make another starter
 
Oh, I thought I read that starsSan somehow fed yeast. Oh well, I guess I'll go to plan a and make a starter from a new pack this weekend. Fermenting in a carboy makes it difficult to just grab some.
Just got excited to use my new toys

Starsan in wet surface quantities will not kill enough yeast to make a difference. A little yeast in a large amount of Starsan would be different.

Since it is just an acid I don't think it feeds yeast.
 
Ok, another question gents. I am going to make a 2L starter out of a WLP001 pack.
I have been messing with the stir plate with my flask filled with water.
How much of a vortex do I want in my flask. Do I want the vortex to go all the way and connect to the stir bar, or do I just need the vortex to go down a couple inches?
 
Ok, another question gents. I am going to make a 2L starter out of a WLP001 pack.
I have been messing with the stir plate with my flask filled with water.
How much of a vortex do I want in my flask. Do I want the vortex to go all the way and connect to the stir bar, or do I just need the vortex to go down a couple inches?

It really doesn't matter. A bigger vortex provides no advantages over a smaller one.

FWIW, I haven't used my stir plate in nearly a year. I've gone to the "shaken, not stirred" starter method. Not only is it easier, I get results as good or better than a stir plate. https://www.experimentalbrew.com/blogs/denny/old-dognew-tricks
 
my experience is it doesnt really matter either fwiw as long as there is some. I have pitched at high krausen and that DOES make a difference though I think. Seems like they kick off faster for sure. Youll find all kinds of different starter methods. The shaking thing I never heard of to be honest but if it works and makes good beer for someone then ok shake it up. The community has grown a lot and seems lik ethers all kinds of new/old info all over the place. Find what works best for you and what makes the best beer out ofyour gear.
 
my experience is it doesnt really matter either fwiw as long as there is some. I have pitched at high krausen and that DOES make a difference though I think. Seems like they kick off faster for sure. Youll find all kinds of different starter methods. The shaking thing I never heard of to be honest but if it works and makes good beer for someone then ok shake it up. The community has grown a lot and seems lik ethers all kinds of new/old info all over the place. Find what works best for you and what makes the best beer out ofyour gear.


Yeah, my plan is a 2l starter, on the stir plate till done, then in the fridge for a couple days, decant, then on breward day warm to room temp and pitch.
 
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