foil or screw on cap for starter?

[kyler]

So im making my first starter in a couple hours for my brew tomorrow night. The can i am making the starter in has a screw on top. Would i be better off using the top and poking a few very small holes in it or just covering the top in foil and be done with it?

i dont have any type of flask handy and the top has about a 5 inch opening on the can.

 

[ChshreCat]

I'd still go with foil. Poking holes in the top would let dust particles in the air float right down in. Yeah, it's unlikely anything bad would happen, but why risk it when you have foil?

 

[kyler]

thanks for the quick reply...i was not wanting to risk it was just wondering if some how the lid would make for even less chance of contamination...

but it appears that is not so...foil it is!

 

[Revvy]

Using an airclock on a starter is actually no longer a recommended practice....just a piece of sanitized foil on top is all you need, since you actually WANT oxygen in there, and an airlock is meant to keep air out of it...

 

[mordantly]

get the autoclaveable foam stoppers. pop it in the flask. boil. cool. remove. pitch. insert.

example:
http://www.williamsbrewing.com/_10-11_FOAM_STOPPER_P1010.cfm

 

[Hermit]

get the autoclaveable foam stoppers. pop it in the flask. boil. cool. remove. pitch. insert.

example:
http://www.williamsbrewing.com/_10-11_FOAM_STOPPER_P1010.cfm

I can't find anything definitive on the micron size, but a double layer would probably work just fine.

 

[maida7]

The foil should work but for the future you may want to change to a bottle with a narrower opening. I find the 1/2 gallon glass bottles that many brewpubs use as growlers are a good size to work with. Glass is also easy to clean and sanitize with chemicals. These bottles have a narrower opening and can take a stoper or foil.

Idealy you'd have a proper flask that you could flame the opening before you pitch the starter into your wort.

 

[Montanaandy]

I know that I was a bit hesitant to use foil since everything that I read about brewoing preaches "sanitation" and I was worried that not having a tight seal would possibly compromise my yeast. The first time I used a growler and stopper + airlock. However, this last batch I used foil over the top of the flask (along with the stirplate) and everything turned out fantastic so this is the way I will prepare yeast from here on in. Montanaandy

 

[johnnyc]

get the autoclaveable foam stoppers. pop it in the flask. boil. cool. remove. pitch. insert.

example:
http://www.williamsbrewing.com/_10-11_FOAM_STOPPER_P1010.cfm

I've got fruit flies and those damn things can worm their way under foil. I'm still using foil til I get some foam stoppers but I look for any "floaties" before pitching.

 

[springer]

You drink soda or juice don't ya? I used a 3 qt apple juice bottle before I went with a stir plate . I just let the lid rest on the top

 

[TexLaw]

get the autoclaveable foam stoppers. pop it in the flask. boil. cool. remove. pitch. insert.

example:
http://www.williamsbrewing.com/_10-11_FOAM_STOPPER_P1010.cfm

I use those, and I'm a big fan of them.


TL

 

[mordantly]

i made a small starter. cooked at 20 psi 15 min. popped in the stopper (was in cooker too). a week went by. nothing started groing in the wort. they mean it. autoclaveable and prevents introduction of badsies. but if you use half the starter and want to use the other half at a later date, the foam does like to stick to the neck.

 

[EvilGnome6]

I use those, and I'm a big fan of them.


TL

I have a couple of the foam stoppers from Northern Brewer and love them. I think my fermentations kick off faster now than when I used a foil cover but that could all be in my head.

 

[mordantly]

arrowhead bottle lids fit most flasks too.. so once the you slept 'em, splitting the starter is a breeze without having to worry about the foam sticking.

once in a moment of stupidity put one on a carboy for a week. boy did that accelerate the aging!

 

[kyler]

well looks like my makeshift starter worked out just fine. Finished at 11 last night...my boy woke me up at 4 and the airlock was already bubbling. Now its bubbling roughly once a second.

i did order my self a flask for my next batch tho...

 

[Montanaandy]

I have used a foil cap (sprayed with Star San) the past 2 times that I have put the starter flask on the stir plate and I have had amazing results. The yeast takes off several hours after picthing and the blow off is steady but very controlled. I used to use a stopper + airlock but won't from here on in unless something changes. Montanaandy