Confused about a "1 Liter starter"

[sareinhart]

Folks talk about pitching a 1 liter starter into a batch of lager. Does that 1 liter refer to the amount of wort made - and they are pitching the yeast that came from that starter or are they actually saying they pitched 1 liter of yeast?

 

[flars]

One liter is the volume of water the DME is added to to make the starter wort. The volume of DME is usually 3.6 ounces for an OG of 1.036. The starter wort is fermented out, cold crashed to settle the yeast, and then the spent wort is decanted to pitch only the yeast propagated.

 

[unionrdr]

Yeah, I like to decant as much used wort as possible so as to pitch the minimum amount of wort with the yeast. Just enough to get the yeast cream to mix up & pour.

 

[sareinhart]

Thanks, guys. I thought that was the case. I just wasn't sure.

 

[SpeedYellow]

One liter is the volume of water the DME is added to to make the starter wort. The volume of DME is usually 3.6 ounces for an OG of 1.036. The starter wort is fermented out, cold crashed to settle the yeast, and then the spent wort is decanted to pitch only the yeast propagated.

Not exactly. A 1L starter means DME (typically 100g) plus enough water so the final volume is 1L. So it's a bit less than 1L of water.

 

[flars]

Not exactly. A 1L starter means DME (typically 100g) plus enough water so the final volume is 1L. So it's a bit less than 1L of water.

I'll have to check with a hydrometer again. The last time I checked, 1 liter plus 3.6 ounces of extra light DME came out to be about 1.036, depending on how the meniscus is read.

 

[logdrum]

I've always used 10:1 e.g.: 1500 ml water to 150 g DME for a "1.5 L" starter. Never measured OG for starters.

 

[Brew_G]

I've always used 10:1 e.g.: 1500 ml water to 150 g DME for a "1.5 L" starter. Never measured OG for starters.

The reason folks are mentioning OGs for starters is that the 1.035-1.040 range seems to be the sweet spot for starte wort. It has enough sugars for the yeast to feed on and propagate to the desired cell count, but it's also not so heavy as to stress yeast that may have been in storage for an extended period of time.