Canning Starter for the first time.. basic questions.

[StormBird]

I thought I'd bust out my pressure cooker and try my hand a canning wort in pint mason jars for making starters.

I do all grain, so this weekend, I'll just brew an extra gallon.

Since the canning process boils the wort, I'll take the wort preboil and unhopped.

Somewhere I read that canned wort is shelf stable since it is sterile. Do you need to be concerned with sunlight?


I'm also in the process of building a stir plate.

What is the process for making a starter with a stir plate? Obviously I combine the wort and yeast at room temp, drop in the stirrer and turn it on, but how long do I stir for? How long does it take before the starter is ready?

 

[pabloj13]

I thought I'd bust out my pressure cooker and try my hand a canning wort in pint mason jars for making starters.

I do all grain, so this weekend, I'll just brew an extra gallon.

Since the canning process boils the wort, I'll take the wort preboil and unhopped.

Somewhere I read that canned wort is shelf stable since it is sterile. Do you need to be concerned with sunlight?


I'm also in the process of building a stir plate.

What is the process for making a starter with a stir plate? Obviously I combine the wort and yeast at room temp, drop in the stirrer and turn it on, but how long do I stir for? How long does it take before the starter is ready?

I don't think light would make any difference since it is the hops that give you the light problems.

I would pour your starter into the flask, shake the crap out of it, pour in the yeast and then turn it on to stir. There are two basic schools of thought on when to pitch.

1) Pitch after 12 hours at high krausen (although you don't normally see a large krausen with the stir plate) and pitch the whole starter.

2) Cold crash overnight after 24-36 hours of stirring. Then decant off the spent wort, bring yeast to pitching temp, swirl and pitch just the slurry.


Personally I like #2 since you can see exactly how much yeast solid you have and you can do it a few days in advance so you know your yeast are ready to go. I normally set mine up on Wednesday for a weekend brew day.

 

[Mk010101]

I also use second runnings from all grain for wort starters. Not always, though, as now I have WAY more than enough starter for 8 months or more. As to the shelf life of canned starter, I am not sure, but I do remember hearing an interview (I think on basicbrewing.com) that mentioned dropping in a small pellet of hops into each jar for extra preservation. Initially, I was not going to bother, then I found deep in the freezer some pellets that are over 5 years old. They are still good, but I would rather use fresher hops for brewing. So, no need to throw those out.

 

[jsled]

I would pour your starter into the flask, shake the crap out of it, pour in the yeast and then turn it on to stir. There are two basic schools of thought on when to pitch.

1) Pitch after 12 hours at high krausen (although you don't normally see a large krausen with the stir plate) and pitch the whole starter.

This, except : there's no need to "shake the crap out of it" … the stir plate itself is going to do way more than shaking will in terms of O₂ exchange, and there's no other reason to shake. Note that you should not use an airlock for your starter, since part of the idea of a starter is to introduce O₂ for the yeast to grow and grow well, instead of simply fermenting the starter beer.

I'm not convinced on that school of thought about pitching at high-krausen … I suppose it's better than nothing, but if the point of the starter is to increase the cell count of yeast for a proper pitching rate, pitching at high krausen isn't aligned with that.

 

[diS]

I try to always have few jars of wort for starter.
There is no contamination concerns as long as wort is sterilized and lid is good sealing. I pour hot wort and then put lid on jars, since liquid decrease in volume by cooling I can see whether lid is sealing (if jar loose pressure).

 

[pabloj13]

This, except : there's no need to "shake the crap out of it" … the stir plate itself is going to do way more than shaking will in terms of O₂ exchange, and there's no other reason to shake. Note that you should not use an airlock for your starter, since part of the idea of a starter is to introduce O₂ for the yeast to grow and grow well, instead of simply fermenting the starter beer.

I'm not convinced on that school of thought about pitching at high-krausen … I suppose it's better than nothing, but if the point of the starter is to increase the cell count of yeast for a proper pitching rate, pitching at high krausen isn't aligned with that.

Let's just call it a loading dose. Eventually the O2 will climb on the stir plate, but a good shake at the beginning will raise the levels immediately and give the yeast a better head start. I'm sure it's only a minor difference though. I prefer cold-crashing and decanting for a number of reasons but I know a lot of people on here are big on the high krausen thing.

 

[dstar26t]

I try to always have few jars of wort for starter.
There is no contamination concerns as long as wort is sterilized and lid is good sealing. I pour hot wort and then put lid on jars, since liquid decrease in volume by cooling I can see whether lid is sealing (if jar loose pressure).

Sterilized wort is wort that's been at 15 psi and 250ºF for 15 minutes. Just boiling is not good enough, has to be boiled under pressure. Wort is a low acid food and will not store safely if only boiled at atmospheric pressure.

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_home.html

 

[Homercidal]

Sterilized wort is wort that's been at 15 psi and 250ºF for 15 minutes. Just boiling is not good enough, has to be boiled under pressure. Wort is a low acid food and will not store safely if only boiled at atmospheric pressure.

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_home.html

+1. Better safe than sorry.

There is no reason for assign hops since the wort would be STERILE after a proper pressure canning.

The first time I did it I followed the instructions that came with the canner and poured a bit of cool water over the canner to speed the cooldown.

Don't do this.

It will drop the temp quickly, that's for sure, but it will also make the wort in the jars boil over violently inside the canner as the pressure is reduced suddenly.

Just let it drop pressure on it's own and everything will be fine.

I think I can fit 6-7 quart jars in my canner, which is about 1.5 gallons. YMMV.

 

[Mk010101]

There is no reason for assign hops since the wort would be STERILE after a proper pressure canning.

Unfortunately, I can't remember the podcast/show I heard it on about putting in hops into canned wort, but I wonder now if it was for protection from bacteria when making a starter. Especially when making a starter up from a slant. Doesn't one need to be extremely careful there as the yeast colony is so small that infection risk is much higher? I dunno, I haven't used my slants yet, so no experience there.

 

[dstar26t]

If you need to put hops in during propagation to protect against infection, you need to change your process.

 

[diS]

Sterilized wort is wort that's been at 15 psi and 250ºF for 15 minutes. Just boiling is not good enough, has to be boiled under pressure. Wort is a low acid food and will not store safely if only boiled at atmospheric pressure.

http://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can_home.html

Agree, but I am too lazy to sterilize wort in pressure cooker. I only use it when I sterilize jars and vials for freezing yeasts for my yeast bank..
Maybe I should use it for wort too, but so far I had no problems with boiling method..

 

[Homercidal]

Agree, but I am too lazy to sterilize wort in pressure cooker. I only use it when I sterilize jars and vials for freezing yeasts for my yeast bank..
Maybe I should use it for wort too, but so far I had no problems with boiling method..

Wow, I started canning wort because I'm too lazy to boil some up every time I want to make a starter. A couple of hours of work can make months of starter wort.

Once it's in a jar I can just spritz a flask with sanitizer, pour in some yeast, pour in some wort, shake it some, and place some foil on the top and set it on the stirplate.

I think the entire process takes about 5 minutes. So much faster and easier than boiling and cooling.