Starter or not?

[mfranzer]

I'm going to brew a mild coming up. 2.5 gal, target OG is 1.039. On brewday, my Wyeast 1469 will be 50 days old. According to sources, it will only be at 65% viability. So I will have 65 billion cells, and my target according to the brewersfriend calculator is 92 billion cells. If I pitch the smack pack as is, I will only have 70% of the yeast I need. If I make a 1L starter I will have 152 billion giving me 165% I have never made a starter before and wondering if I should this time given the age of the yeast. Should I make a starter and overpitch? And if so, is this enough of an overpitch to make a difference?

 

[mgortel]

Do you have a flask to do a starter? If not you would probably be ok....but....you could do a small starter if you have what you need....0.5 litre....and be good to go. You might overpitch with a full litre based on your numbers

 

[mfranzer]

I have a 1 gal glass jar that I could use. I don't know if that would be ok or not.


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[Demus]

Use the calculator to hit your target of 92 billion; you don't have to do a full liter. Probably about .6 liters will get you there. That said, a 1.039 mild is pretty low risk for under pitching causing off flavors...