Do I need a starter?

[rockdemon]

Im going to brew a dubbel on wednesday with yeast i top cropped when brewing a tripel a month ago. Do i need a starter for the yeast? Its a good, thick layer in a water jar in the fridge.
It looks like its enough yeast but do i need to "get it going" before pitching it to the beer?

 

[Revvy]

If I use any jarred yeast that's sat in the fridge for a substantial amount of time I usually make a small starter just to kick start it....If it's only been a couple weeks I may just let it come up to room temp instead, and pitch as is, if it's a standard grav beer, for something big I'd probably still make a starter for it.

It's not really to grow new yeast as much as it is to wake it up out of it's lag phase so it takes off sooner than later.

 

[beergolf]

Yes, I would do a starter for peace of mind.

 

[rockdemon]

If I use any jarred yeast that's sat in the fridge for a substantial amount of time I usually make a small starter just to kick start it....If it's only been a couple weeks I may just let it come up to room temp instead, and pitch as is, if it's a standard grav beer, for something big I'd probably still make a starter for it.

It's not really to grow new yeast as much as it is to wake it up out of it's lag phase so it takes off sooner than later.

Yes, I would do a starter for peace of mind.

Yeah it would feel better to Wake the yeast up Before pitching, i dont want to overpitch too much though. Maybe make a small starter like 1 liter with low OG, maybe 1020? It allready looks like i have 2-3 times the yeast of whats inside a vial...

 

[Revvy]

Worries about "overpitching" is another one of those things that people put way too much worry into... On one hand we worry about not having enough yeast on the other hand we worry about too much. It never ceases to amaze me how much we "Worry" about the little things in this hobby.....

Valium should be sold right along with grain in our homebrewshops, you know.

 

[rockdemon]

Worries about "overpitching" is another one of those things that people put way too much worry into... On one hand we worry about not having enough yeast on the other hand we worry about too much. It never ceases to amaze me how much we "Worry" about the little things in this hobby.....

Valium should be sold right along with grain in our homebrewshops, you know.

I wouldnt worry about it if it was something else than belgian beers. I never manage to get them right so im Always extra concerned about the details in those brews. When I make IPAs, stouts and such i just use whatever I have at home and they turn out ok and sometimes even good but to get the belgians to turn out good seems impossible for me...

 

[emcfarden]

If you're worried just run a quick calculation of how many yeast cells you need using one of the many calculators out there . I figure that my harvested yeast slurry has about 30 billion cells per fl oz. From there you have a ballpark on the volume of yeast slurry you need. It takes like 2 min. Throw your slurry in a starter a day or so before you brew and pitch it in. My stout is bubbling out of my blow off tube from some yeast slurry I used from a previous IPA batch.

 

[ancientbrewer]

hello. how do i grow less than a gram of yeast to ferment 5 gallons of 5.0abv beer by tomorrow(wednesday) evening without a stir plate?

 

[mightynintendo]

Im going to brew a dubbel on wednesday with yeast i top cropped when brewing a tripel a month ago. Do i need a starter for the yeast? Its a good, thick layer in a water jar in the fridge.
It looks like its enough yeast but do i need to "get it going" before pitching it to the beer?

if your question is DO I NEED?, the answer is "insufficient data to answer"

if your question is SHOULD I?, the answer is "yes"

if your question is IS IT ADVISED?, the answer is "yes"

if your question is HOW CAN I BREW WITH INCONSISTENT RESULTS AND AS MUCH FRUSTRATION AS POSSIBLE?, the answer is "by not building a habit of making starters for everything"

 

[HorstSprader]

I use S-05 & 04 90% of the time. I've found with 1.040 beers(or less) using either dry or starter to have the same results on FG. Once I went over 1.050 a starter was required.