Pitch Amount Question

[brew703]

Will be brewing a Belgian PA Saturday morning. Gonna get my starter going this afternoon. According to the online calculators, I need 73 billion cells for a 2 gallon batch. .393L is the pitch amt. The mason jars I have do not have the measurements on the side.
Would it be safe to use 1 oz=30 billion cells? if so that translates to roughly 2.5 oz.
What confuses me is if I convert .393L to ounces that comes to 13.3 oz. 13 oz seems way too much where the 2.5 oz seems right.

Which is correct?

 

[Big Monk]

Why do you feel you need a starter? Just pitch a vial or smack pack.

 

[brew703]

Why do you feel you need a starter? Just pitch a vial or smack pack.

Cause I want to harvest some for a future batch. It's WLP515 and it's not easy to get here.

 

[Big Monk]

Cause I want to harvest some for a future batch. It's WLP515 and it's not easy to get here.

Understood.

I would do a 1L starter. Your choice on method (Stirplate, Shaken). That should net you ~200x10^9 cells.

 

[JustLooking]

Cause I want to harvest some for a future batch. It's WLP515 and it's not easy to get here.

Could be argued that your two gallon batch is a starter. Harvest from there.

 

[brew703]

Could be argued that your two gallon batch is a starter. Harvest from there.

I'll be dry hopping and prefer not to harvest from a yeast cake that was dry hopped.

 

[ScrewyBrewer]

Will be brewing a Belgian PA Saturday morning. Gonna get my starter going this afternoon. According to the online calculators, I need 73 billion cells for a 2 gallon batch. .393L is the pitch amt. The mason jars I have do not have the measurements on the side.
Would it be safe to use 1 oz=30 billion cells? if so that translates to roughly 2.5 oz.
What confuses me is if I convert .393L to ounces that comes to 13.3 oz. 13 oz seems way too much where the 2.5 oz seems right.

Which is correct?

You mention needing 73bn cells to ferment your beer but what amount of yeast are you planning to add to your starter? Is this yeast going to be taken from a fresh vial of yeast, or yeast harvested from a prior batch?

 

[Yesfan]

..............The mason jars I have do not have the measurements on the side............

To add, I'd go ahead and fix that so you don't have that problem on your next batch. I used a sharpie and marked lines at every 100mL on some Snapple bottles I use.


I know you're wanting to make an oversized starter to save some yeast, but you could also use hop bags to keep the trub down to a mimimum to allow you to harvest a cleaner yeast cake too.

 

[brew703]

You mention needing 73bn cells to ferment your beer but what amount of yeast are you planning to add to your starter? Is this yeast going to be taken from a fresh vial of yeast, or yeast harvested from a prior batch?

Fresh Vial-