Lager Starter Temperature

[jvetter]

I'm going to do my second lager on Saturday and I was wondering what temperature to use for the starter?

Typically with an ale started I would use the range used for the beer (e.g. 68-75), but does it make sense to do the same for a lager?

Should I keep the temp of the lager down around feremmentation temperature of 50 degrees F or does it make more sense to do it up around 70degrees?

I imagine whatever temperature promotes the creation of new healthy yeast is best, I just don't know what that temp is

Thanks,
Jaime

 

[menschmaschine]

At this point, I'd do it at room temp (68-70ish), let it ferment completely, put in the fridge 48 hours before brewing to let the yeast settle, and decant the starter beer before pitching.

Some recommend doing lager starters at the same temps as primary. The two reasons for this are so that fruity starter beer isn't created and so the yeast are used to fermenting at 50-ish and they don't have to make the adjustment when pitched to the wort. But these types of starters need to be started 7-10 days in advance.

Fermenting starters for lagers at room temp isn't that big of a deal as long as you decant off the starter beer. The yeast may produce some byproducts while adjusting to lower fermentation temps, but this may or may not be noticable in the final beer.

 

[jvetter]

Interesting that your suggsting 7-10 days, I've never heard that before. I usually do my ale starter the thursday before I brew, which I guess would be two days before pitching. Whats the reason for giving the cold lager starter so much time? I mean I understand that lagers take longer because there colder, but 7-10 days is 3.5-5 times longer that I would do for an ale.

Thanks for you input!

 

[menschmaschine]

Interesting that your suggsting 7-10 days, I've never heard that before. I usually do my ale starter the thursday before I brew, which I guess would be two days before pitching. Whats the reason for giving the cold lager starter so much time? I mean I understand that lagers take longer because there colder, but 7-10 days is 3.5-5 times longer that I would do for an ale.

Thanks for you input!

Lager starters are typically 2 to 4 times as big as ale starters and at those low temps, it takes longer to ferment. This timeframe also allows for the potential to put it in the low to mid 30s a couple days before pitching to settle the yeast and decant off the starter beer.

 

[jvetter]

Ahhh, ok. so 5-8 days of yeast growth in the starter and 2 days for the yeast to flocculate for decanting, makes sense.

Guess I better do the starter tonight at ale temps so my yeast has time to flocculate.

Thanks!

 

[AnonyBrew]

A search of this forum for lager starters will provide lots of results.

From the information I've gathered here, I've done my lager starters at room temp. 2 or 3 days before use. Then crash them in the fridge for at least a day prior to using. I'll decant the beer off the yeast prior to pitching.

I also pitch at fermentation temp. (around 50F). The way I do this is to put the starter container with the yeast in the chiller next to the wort & let them both reach desired fermentation temp. prior to pitching.

 

[jvetter]

Thanks for the info. I did do a search of "lager starter" first, but didn't see anything in the top 10-20 that looked like a good match, so I posted. Sorry if I duplicated a common post.