I have heard lots about yeast startes. i still don't understand when to make one and why. last batch i made, i just shook up the vial and dumped it in.... perhaps i should have made a starter? how do you know how much yeast to pitch? you obviously cant count a million cells.
yeast starter
- Thread starter rwabdu
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you need a starter if you're brewing a 1.060 or bigger 5 gallon. otherwise, pitch it as is. the reason to make a starter is all over the internet; basically, to make the yeast reproduce enough to be able to process the complex sugars, instead of eating the simple sugars and dying out
Hockeyhunter99
Well-Known Member
starters also verify yeast health, and it gives them a jump start on activity to shorten lag time. longer lag time = more risk of infection.
+1 on this. I just think it's a good idea to do one for every brew,even if it's just a couple of hours while you're doing everything else. It really did drastically shorten lag time for me. A few hours instead of a few days pitching dry yeast. Working great so far...
jds
Well-Known Member
Well, like many things in brewing, there are several schools of thought. Here's what I do:
For dry yeast, I don't make starters. For really big beers (1.070 and up), I'll pitch two packs of dry yeast.
For liquid yeast, I always make starters. White Labs and Wyeast say that their packages are enough without starters, and I agree with them for certain circumstances; namely very fresh yeast that's always been properly stored, and beers under 1.060 in gravity. Since I don't always know how the yeast has been stored, I make starters.
There are as many ways to make starters as there are to make beer. I recommend the following references:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Starter
http://www.mrmalty.com/starter_faq.htm
Good luck, and happy brewing.
wolverinebrewer
Well-Known Member
This is a good choice but I want to add that you want to rehydrate for best results.
Making a starter for ALL liquid yeast is a good idea. If we assume Mr. Malty is correct, even a 1.050 beer needs 175 billion cells. If a smack pack contains 100 billion viable cells (and that is from fresh yeast), then you would need almost 2 packs without a starter. If you have only 1 pack, then making a starter would get you to the proper pitching rate without having to buy another pack.
If I were you, I would learn how to use/do a few things:
1. Learn how to use Mr. Malty
2. Learn how to make starters
3. Learn how to wash yeast
schmaltzy
Well-Known Member
I have a question. Last night, for the first time, I decided to wash and keep some Nottingham yeast. I think did a pretty good job and it's sleeping nicely in my fridge as I type. My question is, how much of the yeast in my mason jar should I use when pitching it into another beer? I'm assuming a starter will need to be made when pitching this yeast, but I don't know how much to actually use. I did see the calculator link at the top of the page, but it would take me a little while to count out a couple hundred billion cells!
Also, can you over-pitch or pitch TOO MUCH yeast? If so, what effect does that have on your beer?
schmaltzy said:I have a question. Last night, for the first time, I decided to wash and keep some Nottingham yeast. I think did a pretty good job and it's sleeping nicely in my fridge as I type. My question is, how much of the yeast in my mason jar should I use when pitching it into another beer? I'm assuming a starter will need to be made when pitching this yeast, but I don't know how much to actually use. I did see the calculator link at the top of the page, but it would take me a little while to count out a couple hundred billion cells!
Also, can you over-pitch or pitch TOO MUCH yeast? If so, what effect does that have on your beer?
I have been wondering this myself. I have no idea how many yeast cells are in my jar
LVBen
Well-Known Member
Plus, you get to drink your beer sooner... that is what sold me on starters!
wolverinebrewer
Well-Known Member
I have a question. Last night, for the first time, I decided to wash and keep some Nottingham yeast. I think did a pretty good job and it's sleeping nicely in my fridge as I type. My question is, how much of the yeast in my mason jar should I use when pitching it into another beer? I'm assuming a starter will need to be made when pitching this yeast, but I don't know how much to actually use. I did see the calculator link at the top of the page, but it would take me a little while to count out a couple hundred billion cells!
Also, can you over-pitch or pitch TOO MUCH yeast? If so, what effect does that have on your beer?
As you are, I also am learning this stuff and at times am wondering how much to use. I have been washing a lot of yeast and have more than a dozen pint jars in the fridg. When doing a new brew and using a jar of yeast, I use Mr. Malty and use the "repitching from slurry" tab. After inputing your info you will notice it tells you how many mL. of slurry you need. I'm not sure if this is right but if it tells me you need 150 mL. I figure I need 2/3 cup of just the stuff on the bottom. For most of my yeast washing, I get about 1/4 cup of just the packed down stuff on the bottom. This is what I use to make a 1 liter starter. Usually after the starter has multiplied my yeast into about twice as much, I figure its close to the 2/3 cup Mr. Malty told me I needed and I would just pitch that amount. So far this has worked well. If I need 200 or 250 ml. of slurry, then I would use 2 jars to make a starter. I don't brew often enough to use all of the jars I've saved and sometimes when they get old, Mr. Malty tells me I need 3 or 4 jars to be adequate for pitching.
I'm not sure if I'm doing this right because in almost a year of reading this forum, I have never seen this topic touched upon. I have never had a yeast/fermentation issue, so I just keep doing it this way. I use Mr. Malty for every brew I make just to see where I stand.
I don't know if this helps you or not but it's how I do it.
McGarnigle
Well-Known Member
In theory, you can over-pitch, and it will result in an estery beer, at least according to this (although it's a complicated subject and maybe this isn't the final word on it):
During the growth phase the ester production is reduced because acetyl-CoA is used for yeast growth and not available for ester production. Higher pitching rates will result in higher ester formation because there is less growth before they reach the stationary phase.
http://www.danstaryeast.com/library/need-yeast-growth
Higher pitching >> less yeast growth >> yeast have nothing to do but make esters
terrapinj
Well-Known Member
I have a question. Last night, for the first time, I decided to wash and keep some Nottingham yeast. I think did a pretty good job and it's sleeping nicely in my fridge as I type. My question is, how much of the yeast in my mason jar should I use when pitching it into another beer? I'm assuming a starter will need to be made when pitching this yeast, but I don't know how much to actually use. I did see the calculator link at the top of the page, but it would take me a little while to count out a couple hundred billion cells!
Also, can you over-pitch or pitch TOO MUCH yeast? If so, what effect does that have on your beer?
Mr Malty has a calculator tab for re pitching slurry - although im not sure exactly how to use the slider to calculate thickness/density of the slury
http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html
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