A gallon starter

[iambeer]

1 gallon starter for 5 gallons?

I'm assuming people who are making a 1 gallon starter for a 5 gallon batch are using a neutral malt extract. Or are they canning wort? Or are they making loads and loads of wort all week long?

I can't imagine how someone can get away with pouring a gallon of neutral malt extract wort full of active yeast into a more specific recipe to make only 5 gallons. I mean, it seems like this sacrifices a lot of control over the overall taste just to ensure more yeast. Or are some brews more reliant on the yeast than the wort?

Or am I reading it wrong? Just trying to make sense of it.

 

[terrapinj]

cold crash the starter 24 hours or more before pitching - decant off the beer and just pour in the slurry

 

[pfgonzo]

What the heck are you brewing that you need a 1ga starter for a 5ga batch? That's 3.7 liters!

I understand big beers need big starters, just curious.

 

[homebrewdad]

No kidding. I see lots of 1L-2L starters... 1 gallon???

 

[Shelly]

brew a lighter beer of a similar style, maybe even a 2 to 2 1/2 gallon batch, that way you get a small beer and a starter at the same time

 

[StoneHands]

Most lagers approach a gallon of starter if you're 1.060, more if you're above. Step it up, and decant the spent wort like terrapin suggests.

 

[BryceL]

What the heck are you brewing that you need a 1ga starter for a 5ga batch? That's 3.7 liters!

I understand big beers need big starters, just curious.

If he is brewing a higher gravity lager, a 1 gallon starter is not out of the question.

To the OP, you will definitely want to decant your starter. Also, try using more than one vial of yeast and you may be able to reduce your starter size.

 

[BBL_Brewer]

If you're making a lager, you need bigger starters. But if you're making an ale, 1 gallon sounds a little overkill. With a stir plate I don't use near that much. And like mentioned above, even if you did make one that big you wouldn't pitch the whole starter, just the slurry.

 

[iambeer]

Basically what I'm getting here is that if I cold crash a starter for a day, I can use the slurry which is the yeasty stuff at the bottom of the starter after decanting the rest of the wort, and therefore get about a gallon's worth of healthy yeast without the taste of the original wort. Is that right? Because it seems like an awfully clever trick to me. Thanks. And is there something to worry about the sudden temp changes with the slurry going into the new wort?

 

[neosapien]

the yeasties will find a nice happy home in their new wort, warm up to the pitching temp, start to wake up and chow down like it's a feast.

 

[BryceL]

Basically what I'm getting here is that if I cold crash a starter for a day, I can use the slurry which is the yeasty stuff at the bottom of the starter after decanting the rest of the wort, and therefore get about a gallon's worth of healthy yeast without the taste of the original wort. Is that right? Because it seems like an awfully clever trick to me. Thanks. And is there something to worry about the sudden temp changes with the slurry going into the new wort?

You can take your starter out of the fridge on brew day, decant it and then let it sit out to warm up to your pitching temperature. Side note, you should leave about an inch of wort on top of your yeast in your starter after you decant. This will help you swirl the yeast back into a slurry when pitching.