About to can AG yeast starter - any words of wisdom

[BPRjam]

Tonight I'm going to try to make 3 gallons of all-grain yeast starter, then can it in 1 quart jars using my pressure cooker. I have a mash tun, but I will be doing this as BIAB.

Any words of wisdom or lessons learned before I take the plunge?

 

[Glynn]

not sure why you doing this other then you can. its a lot easier to boil 1 cup of dme with 1 qt water then can it or use it as you need it. it just seems like a lot of work just for a starter

 

[BPRjam]

I'm doing it for cost and convenience. I can get 3 gallons of starter for around $6, which would be much more expensive with DME. The time to mash and can isn't much more than the time to get individual starters made if doing them individually with DME, especially when you consider that most of the time is the 60-90 min mash, when I can be doing other things. Plus, having the starters sitting on the shelf ready for use makes prepping for a brew so much easier. I figure I'll make a batch of starters once or maybe twice a year, and not have to worry about it the rest of the time.

 

[BigFloyd]

I understand what you're trying to achieve and the logic you're applying to try to make it more economical (I'm right now looking to borrow a pressure cooker so I can do some canned starter wort). There may, however, be a better way.

Have you built yourself a stirplate yet? If not, you may want to consider doing so. That's where you'll save some real $$ when doing starters by allowing yourself to get the same # of cells with a smaller starter (using much less DME).

Example - 5.25g of 1.054 ale wort needs 198 billion cells. You can do a 2.7L simple starter (with a 1-month old vial or pack) to get there or you can make a 1L stirplate starter for the same # of cells. You save by only using 37% as much DME and it's easier.

 

[kapbrew13]

not sure why you doing this other then you can. its a lot easier to boil 1 cup of dme with 1 qt water then can it or use it as you need it. it just seems like a lot of work just for a starter

Nothing easier then pulling out a canned starter and dumping it with the yeast when ready to make a starter.
Also grain is cheaper then malt extract.

Don't worry about the chunky things on the bottom or the jars.
Get 1/2 gallon mason jars. 11.50 at wally world.

 

[BPRjam]

Get 1/2 gallon mason jars. 11.50 at wally world.

Yeah, I was torn about this. I opted for a flat of quart jars instead because "Brewing Classic Styles" occasionally has recipes that call for X.5 packs of liquid yeast. I figure having the 1 quart capability might save me some starter in the long run. For the usual case, I plan to combine two quart jars for the starter.

Now that I think about it, it may not have been "Brewing Classic Styles", but it was one of my recipe books.

 

[kapbrew13]

1/2 gallon is about 2 L and I usually make 2 L starters and pour some aside into smaller mason jars for future brews if I don't need all 2L.
I had too many quart jars floating around. Wife was getting pissy.

 

[BPRjam]

Wife was getting pissy.

My wife cans a ton of stuff from her garden every year, so buying another flat of quart jars was no big deal. Aside from using for wort, I don't know exactly what we'd do with the 1/2 gallon jars.

Though, now that I think about it, buying jars she doesn't want to use may have been a good idea...

 

[kapbrew13]

My wife is a cans a ton of stuff from her garden every year, so buying another flat of quart jars was no big deal. Aside from using for wort, I don't know exactly what we'd do with the 1/2 gallon jars.

Though, now that I think about it, buying jars she doesn't want to use may have been a good idea...

Lol !! I buy stuff that she won't like so I can have it instead. Seems to work 90% of the time. Hmmm why did she have to take the tablet?

 

[forstmeister]

Yeah, I was torn about this. I opted for a flat of quart jars instead because "Brewing Classic Styles" occasionally has recipes that call for X.5 packs of liquid yeast. I figure having the 1 quart capability might save me some starter in the long run. For the usual case, I plan to combine two quart jars for the starter.

Now that I think about it, it may not have been "Brewing Classic Styles", but it was one of my recipe books.

No, you're correct about the book. I am sitting in my car reading that section right now while my kid is in class. I was just planning the exact process as you in my head when I popped into this thread.

 

[MTBear]

I can wort and I can't say enough for it. The convenience of having wort ready to go for starters is worth the effort.

I really plow thru the stuff, though, mostly because I am also producing slants on 5 different house strains. Along with my brew schedule, I have gone thru 9 gallons of wort in five weeks!

As for canning, make sure you hit 250 for 20 minutes in your canner. Also, my very first batch I had a lot of siphoning in the canner as my lids rings were not tight enough.

What else, oh...make sure you have some homebrew on hand, it can be a long day.


Edit: mix in some pints, they are great if you are stepping starters and only need 300-400 ml on the first phase. Also, it seems as if one quart is never enough and two quarts is too much on my larger starters. A lot of my starters are 1200-1300 ml which is a quart and a pint jar, no waste.

 

[TrustyOlJohnson]

I can wort and I can't say enough for it. The convenience of having wort ready to go for starters is worth the effort.

I really plow thru the stuff, though, mostly because I am also producing slants on 5 different house strains. Along with my brew schedule, I have gone thru 9 gallons of wort in five weeks!

As for canning, make sure you hit 250 for 20 minutes in your canner. Also, my very first batch I had a lot of siphoning in the canner as my lids rings were not tight enough.

What else, oh...make sure you have some homebrew on hand, it can be a long day.


Edit: mix in some pints, they are great if you are stepping starters and only need 300-400 ml on the first phase. Also, it seems as if one quart is never enough and two quarts is too much on my larger starters. A lot of my starters are 1200-1300 ml which is a quart and a pint jar, no waste.

I was looking for another thread about this, because the last 2 times I made 5 gallon batches I jus canned em and didnt pressure cook them. The last 3 jars of my second batch, when opened had a very small amount of black film under the lid, so I threw em out. This time I pressure canned them and they are cooling as we speak. And I used 15 psi (which creates 250 on my canner) for 15 minutes.