cimirie
Well-Known Member
So, I've made countless yeast starters in my brew career. I've done them because I know that's what you're "supposed" to do. But, as I was putting together one last night, I got to thinking...
Starter = small batch DME wort, yeast pack, let sit (or stir plate), high krausen, decant, pitch.
Sounds simple, but, if you are decanting, you are specifically taking the highly flocculant yeast cells to pitch into your primary wort. You are perhaps changing the profile of the yeast you are pitching.
Another concern would be that with a very non-flocculant strain (Kolsch, Wyeast 2565) if you are decanting and pitching at high krausen, you may not be getting nearly enough yeast into your primary wort. In fact, if you rely on only the yeast on the bottom, you may be getting fewer cells than you had in your vial/smack pack to begin with.
So this is not me saying "we're all wrong." But if somebody could give me some opinions on these items. I just thought they were interesting points to ponder. Thanks!
Starter = small batch DME wort, yeast pack, let sit (or stir plate), high krausen, decant, pitch.
Sounds simple, but, if you are decanting, you are specifically taking the highly flocculant yeast cells to pitch into your primary wort. You are perhaps changing the profile of the yeast you are pitching.
Another concern would be that with a very non-flocculant strain (Kolsch, Wyeast 2565) if you are decanting and pitching at high krausen, you may not be getting nearly enough yeast into your primary wort. In fact, if you rely on only the yeast on the bottom, you may be getting fewer cells than you had in your vial/smack pack to begin with.
So this is not me saying "we're all wrong." But if somebody could give me some opinions on these items. I just thought they were interesting points to ponder. Thanks!