Newbie yeast starter questions

[blackonblack]

For my next brew I bought the equipment for a yeast starter with a stir plate. Does it matter how long you start the starter before the yeast is pitched? Is 2 days too long?

Also can I chill the starter to settle the yeast over night before use. Decant the liquid and pitch just the yeast?

I was going to start it 2-3 days before I brew then chill overnight . Let the starter warm up before decanting and pitching

 

[zzARzz]

What you stated is pretty much it in a nutshell. I usually do mine for 2 days, chill the night before, let it sit out an hour or two at roughly pitching/room temp before I'm ready to pitch (put a clean dish towel or something loosely over the flask to protect it from light) and decant off the clear, spent starter wort sitting on top of the starter's yeast cake before doing so.

I've also found that adding some of the chilled beer wort back into the flask and swirling it a bit helps get most of the yeast in the fermenter without getting clumps of it stuck inside the flask. Just be careful you don't accidentally dump your stir bar into the fermenter when you pitch (a lesson I learned the hard way ).

 

[blackonblack]

Great! My stir plate (stir starter) came with a keeper magnet to hold the stir bar in place. Thank you!

 

[flars]

Do your starter a week before you brew. Prevents any unforeseen incidents from delaying your brew day. A starter made on a stir plate can be done in 12 to 18 hours for a 2 liter starter. Twenty-four hours is good insurance.

There will be negligible viability loss cold crashing the starter for a week. Some yeasts like WY3711 will take more than 24 hours to drop out of suspension. Pitching your starter within 10° of the wort temperature is good. It is best if the yeast is cooler than the wort, without having the wort to warm for the yeast. Best wort temperature for pitching the yeast is in the low 60°s.

Starters don't need to be protected from light. Skunking occurs in fermenting or completed beers. Skunking is from UV light reacting with the hop oils.

 

[zzARzz]

Starters don't need to be protected from light. Skunking occurs in fermenting or completed beers. Skunking is from UV light reacting with the hop oils.

https://byo.com/stories/issue/item/1097-making-a-yeast-starter-techniques

Fermenting the Yeast Starter

Treat your yeast starter like you would a batch of beer. Keep it away from bright light, even if you didn’t add hops. Avoiding skunking isn’t the reason for shielding a yeast starter from light. Ultraviolet radiation from sunlight causes mutations in laboratory yeast, and this affects their growth. Keep the starter between 72–80° F while it’s growing, slightly higher than normal ale temperatures. The yeast will grow quickly and happily in this temperature range.

A little caution goes a long way.

 

[WoodlandBrew]

I would love to read the paper detailing the mentioned scientific study on UV light effect on mutation and growth. Is there a reference for that?

 

[blackonblack]

Light might give yeast a sunburn.

 

[kh54s10]

Too much sunlight and you will have billions of tiny pairs of sunglasses in your beer.

 

[blackonblack]

The suntan lotion will definitely give an off flavor to the beer. SPF 20 Ale.

 

[jd_brewing]

Just made my first starter from two bottle dregs (la fin du monde and duvel) mostly experimental, but will use if it works out. So I did 500 ml water with 50 grams dme for est gravity of 1.038 pitch the dregs @ 63 degrees, covered with sanitized foil and set in dark place around 72 degrees, we'll see what happens. Any input, speculations, or advice would be appreciated!


"If you've made something that doesn't offend anybody, you've made Budweiser"
-Augie Carton-

 

[podz]

I would love to read the paper detailing the mentioned scientific study on UV light effect on mutation and growth. Is there a reference for that?

Maybe you'll like this one:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1212581/pdf/21.pdf

Or this one:

http://www.phys.ksu.edu/gene/d4.html

Basically, it's a non-issue unless you are shining a laboratory grade UV lamp on your yeast that is specifically designed with a UV strength that is not otherwise making it's way through our planet's ozone layer.

In other words, I call bull****.

 

[Jman_01]

X2 on the keeper magnet on bottom of flask!


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

 

[WoodlandBrew]

Maybe you'll like this one:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1212581/pdf/21.pdf

Or this one:

http://www.phys.ksu.edu/gene/d4.html

Basically, it's a non-issue unless you are shining a laboratory grade UV lamp on your yeast that is specifically designed with a UV strength that is not otherwise making it's way through our planet's ozone layer.

In other words, I call bull****.

Thanks! Those are both good reads. It looks like the amount of sunlight that makes it to the yeast starter sitting on a counter top would not effect growth.