Yeast starter / BeerSmith 2

[Zippox]

BeerSmith suggests 3 liquid yeast packs and a 5.79 liter starter. If I were to buy 1 yeast pack (Wyeast 3787 - Trappist High Gravity), how could I make a proper starter?

 

[sptaylor70]

One way would be to make a bigger starter. Using Mr Malty, it looks like you'd need a 12 L starter to get by with just one yeast package.

Or you could just brew a smaller batch (3 gallons) of your recipe (or of a similar OG beer, like a biere de garde or dubbel) and pitch the resulting slurry in your 10 gallon batch.

 

[catdaddy66]

That seems like an awfully huge starter! I can understand a big starter for imperial brews and high abv, or if you are doing 10-15 gallon batches. I have never used any starter larger than 2 liters for my 5-6 gallon batches.

Not saying it is giving bad info, just haven't heard of an amount that large.


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[Oginme]

Make sure that you have a current date of the yeast package in the calculator.

 

[Zippox]

I don't actually have the yeast in hand but I made the date for the end of April (of this year). So it had 88% viability.

My recipe is for 10 gallons so of course that ties into the numbers. But a 1.5 gallon starter (6 litres) like Beer Smith is recommending does seem huge to me - but I've only made one starter before.

I have a gallon jug and am wondering if I filled that 3/4ths the way with 1.040 gravity wort (light DME) if that would still be way to far below the suggested pitching rate.

I would need to get a second gallon jug to get anywhere close to the yeast starter suggestion amount.

 

[Zippox]

Is this procedure good practice:

Make a yeast starter. Once krausen falls then refrigerate to separate wort from yeast. Decant and leave just the yeast. Make a new batch of wort and pour on top of the yeast after they come back to room temp?

Is that a proper step-up for a yeast starter?

 

[AerationStation]

Yep, that's what I do. Just for semantics (you've implied this step) you also want to make sure that wort is room temp as well.

 

[Zippox]

Yeah, definitely. Glad to hear that I don't need to build a second stir plate and can reuse the same gallon jug.

 

[kh54s10]

Use this site for information on making step starters: http://www.yeastcalculator.com/

 

[Zippox]

Use this site for information on making step starters: http://www.yeastcalculator.com/

That is handy. Could you explain the two variations in the "stir plate" combobox options?

 

[Gus_13]

Take this with a grain of salt of course. I brew a ton of Belgian style beers and always under pitch. Don't underestimate Belgian yeast strength. That seems like a massive starter to me for a 10 gallon batch of not very high gravity wort. I haven't used that particular yeast but I brewed a 1.072 batch of Belgian ale last year and did a 1L starter with White Labs WLP500. Took 1.072 down to 1.010 in about 7 days.

I also build my starters like you do. Run the first one, fridge, decant add second starter and repeat. Good luck! I'm sure it will make a great beer!

 

[Zippox]

What is the starting gravity that yeastcalculator.com uses for the calculations? The numbers don't change when I change my starter gravity from 1.037 to 1.040. Why doesn't this change?


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[Copbrew133]

Just out of curiosity, did you enter the yeast date correct in Beersmith to have an accurate viability %? Just seems like a huge starter for a 1.062 expected gravity even on a 10 gallon batch.

Disregard, come on caffiene!!!

 

[Riot]

I just put your numbers into the BrewersFriend calculator, it is saying you will have a proper pitch with about 2.5 litres. This is assuming one pack at 70% viability. I think beersmith seriously underestimates the growth of stirred starters. This calculation was done with the newer K. Troester formula, based on data from a member of these forums. He was doing cell counts that showed a much larger growth rate than was previously believed.

 

[Zippox]

Just out of curiosity, did you enter the yeast date correct in Beersmith to have an accurate viability %? Just seems like a huge starter for a 1.062 expected gravity even on a 10 gallon batch.

Disregard, come on caffiene!!!

Yes, I thought that I had entered a wrong yeast date too but in my second post I clarified I entered it correctly.

I just put your numbers into the BrewersFriend calculator, it is saying you will have a proper pitch with about 2.5 litres. This is assuming one pack at 70% viability. I think beersmith seriously underestimates the growth of stirred starters. This calculation was done with the newer K. Troester formula, based on data from a member of these forums. He was doing cell counts that showed a much larger growth rate than was previously believed.

I will go off of the lower suggested number of yeast cells. With the new numbers does that mean I should not do a step starter?

Does anyone happen to know the starter gravity that yeastcalculator.com uses? I think it locks in at 1.037 which is why using that calculator it seems I would need a step starter.