BitterSweetBrews
Tim Trabold
I have a question I have been pondering for a while. Here is some background:
I am creating a starter for a 5.5 gallon batch of Vienna lager. I am using some harvested 2124 Bavarian Lager yeast, harvested 15 months ago, and frozen about a year ago. I froze 25ml slurry with appropriate amounts of glycerin (7.5ml) and sterile water (17.5ml).
I thawed the 50ml yeast vial and made a starter 4 days ago with a pint of 1.040 wort (Thursday on a stir plate). It started up just fine and was going well within 24 hours. I added a quart of 1.040 wort on Saturday. It kept going and built up a nice kreusan. Yesterday-Sunday (about 20 hours ago) I topped it off with some more 1.040 wort, a bit of yeast nutrient and now have about 2100ml. It took off right away and this morning there was still a bubble ring around the top, but it has subsided. I have little doubt my starter is healthy. There is a lot of material spinning around and when I stop the stir-bar and let it sit for 5 minutes. I get a nice 1/4" layer on the bottom of the flask. I plan on crashing it this afternoon, decanting and pitching tonight.
So my question revolves around this. When a yeast calculator says to make a 2 liter starter where do they come up with this amount/cell#? Is the 2 liters based on how much yeast it takes to ferment out that amount of 1.040 wort?
So, if you have 2 liters and you have made it or built it up with healthy yeast will you always have the 2-3 billion cells available. The Mr Malty site sort of explains this a bit in their FAQs, but I am still not totally comfortable with the information.
Also, does this take into account decanting? After crashing the starter I have in the past decanted into another sterile container and let this crash for days. I always end up with some nice clean yeast that settled out later.
I am creating a starter for a 5.5 gallon batch of Vienna lager. I am using some harvested 2124 Bavarian Lager yeast, harvested 15 months ago, and frozen about a year ago. I froze 25ml slurry with appropriate amounts of glycerin (7.5ml) and sterile water (17.5ml).
I thawed the 50ml yeast vial and made a starter 4 days ago with a pint of 1.040 wort (Thursday on a stir plate). It started up just fine and was going well within 24 hours. I added a quart of 1.040 wort on Saturday. It kept going and built up a nice kreusan. Yesterday-Sunday (about 20 hours ago) I topped it off with some more 1.040 wort, a bit of yeast nutrient and now have about 2100ml. It took off right away and this morning there was still a bubble ring around the top, but it has subsided. I have little doubt my starter is healthy. There is a lot of material spinning around and when I stop the stir-bar and let it sit for 5 minutes. I get a nice 1/4" layer on the bottom of the flask. I plan on crashing it this afternoon, decanting and pitching tonight.
So my question revolves around this. When a yeast calculator says to make a 2 liter starter where do they come up with this amount/cell#? Is the 2 liters based on how much yeast it takes to ferment out that amount of 1.040 wort?
So, if you have 2 liters and you have made it or built it up with healthy yeast will you always have the 2-3 billion cells available. The Mr Malty site sort of explains this a bit in their FAQs, but I am still not totally comfortable with the information.
Also, does this take into account decanting? After crashing the starter I have in the past decanted into another sterile container and let this crash for days. I always end up with some nice clean yeast that settled out later.
Last edited:
