Yeast starter

[dhelegda]

Ok so I am attempting to use liquid yeast once again. I have two beers in my future on is a German rye and I got the wye yeast it recommended, I think that is pretty straight forwards several hours before brewing slap the pack together and wait to see if the pack expands...

The second is a white labs yeast I ordered a pound of dme... and a beaker. How much dme should I use and what are the steps and how long before the brew should I start the starter...I do not have a starter plate.


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[Roondy888]

How big is your Erlenmeyer flask?

 

[dhelegda]

Not sure it's still in the mail...


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[Roondy888]

Here is an awesome resource for most starter questions http://www.mrmalty.com/starter_faq.php. If you still have questions after reading let me know.

 

[dhelegda]

Now I'm more confused...it says "According to both White Labs and Wyeast, a White Labs Pitchable Yeast vial and a Wyeast ACTIVATORTM 125 XL Smack Pack both contain an average of 100 billion cells and are enough to pitch directly into 5 US gallons (18.9 liters) of an ale wort at 1.048 SG (12°P). This is a pitching rate of 5.3 million cells per milliliter, which is close to the pitching rate many professional breweries begin with when starting a new pitch of ale yeast. This rate works well because the health and vitality of fresh laboratory cultured yeast are superior to yeast harvested from normal fermentation."

If this is the case then why does everyone keep telling me to make a starter?

According to this article it says "Also, for some small batches or low gravity beers such as an ordinary bitter, there is a very slight chance you might end up over pitching if you get carried away. High pitching rates can result in a less than ideal fermentation profile (i.e., low or unexpected esters, yeast autolysis flavors, poor head retention) as compared to a properly pitched batch."


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[Roondy888]

Yeah it all depends on how big/what kind of a beer you are making. For smaller beers (1.050) and below I dont usually make a starter and just warm the vial up/vent for a few hours and direct pitch into the wort. Anything bigger than that and you will probably want to make a starter of some sort. It also depends on what kind of beer you are making as well. If you are making a belgian or a heffe, you want the yeast to be a little stressed so they can make the flavors you are looking for(banana, clove, estery). Also if your sanitation practices arent the greatest you are probably better off not making a starter as you have more risk to infect your starter with wild yeast or something worse.

 

[jekeane]

1.060 and above is really when starters are needed. Starters can still be helpful on beers below that number especially if your yeast isn't very fresh.

 

[dhelegda]

Ok I don't take gravity, it's a foreign language...I usually buy all grain kits...if it say you follow the directions you will have an ABV of 4.7 such as in the case of the summer ale I am about to brew I trust it's going to be 4.7... This is just for my drinking enjoyment and for the love of making it and the process... Now if I was going to put the beer in a competition I would take gravity and make for certain it was what I boast it was!


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[Roondy888]

+1 on the not so fresh yeasties, forgot to mention that.

 

[dhelegda]

My white labs is best before August 14,2014 the wyeast says manufactured march 20 2014


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[Roondy888]

Gravity is actually really easy! If you dont like doing math there are plenty of free calculators online(http://www.brewersfriend.com/abv-calculator/) that make it so there is no math involved! Do you bottle? If so without gravity readings to know when fermentation is done you are going to run into bottle bombs.

 

[dhelegda]

No I keg, I brew, ferment for two ta three weeks den ending if I have a keg available then rack it...after it's in the keg I hit it with about 30 psi of CO2 and let it sit till there is room in the freezer chest, when I drop it in the chest I put 6 psi on it let it chill and serve...haven't had a bad batch yet!


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[Roondy888]

Your wyeast is about 75% vialbility, and your white labs is about the same. To figure out when the white labs yeast was packaged subtract four months off the best by date.

 

[Roondy888]

..haven't had a bad batch yet!


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Thats all that matters!!!

 

[dhelegda]

It talks about adding a yeast nutrient to the starter, will priming sugar work?


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[dhelegda]

Not having a bad batch is important!


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[Roondy888]

No yeast nutrient is completely different, it contains different minerals/amino acids/vitamins to help with yeast growth and health. Your DME is all the sugar that the starter will need.

 

[starscream]

If its a beer under 1.060 expected gravity, 24 hours before brew day is when i make my starter. Its normally a 1/2 Liter starter, just to get the yeast up and going. If you are brewing a lager, it is highly recommended to do a 2L starter because of the colder temps during ferm.

For an ale for example, I smack the pack and let it sit for 2-3hrs just to get it up to room temp. Then i use 2 cups of water and 1/2 cup of DME. mix and boil for ~10 mins. transfer into my flask and cool to ~68 degrees. Then pitch the yeast and set it on my stir plate. Cover the flask with sterilized aluminum foil, NOT an airlock. Pitch it when wort is ready.

If you want to make larger yeast starters, chill the starter for 24-48hrs afterwards, decant the wort on top of it and repeat the process with 3cups water and 1/2 cup DME.

There are several calculators but im a KISS type person so do some research and trial and error.

 

[dhelegda]

If its a beer under 1.060 expected gravity, 24 hours before brew day is when i make my starter. Its normally a 1/2 Liter starter, just to get the yeast up and going. If you are brewing a lager, it is highly recommended to do a 2L starter because of the colder temps during ferm.

For an ale for example, I smack the pack and let it sit for 2-3hrs just to get it up to room temp. Then i use 2 cups of water and 1/2 cup of DME. mix and boil for ~10 mins. transfer into my flask and cool to ~68 degrees. Then pitch the yeast and set it on my stir plate. Cover the flask with sterilized aluminum foil, NOT an airlock. Pitch it when wort is ready.

If you want to make larger yeast starters, chill the starter for 24-48hrs afterwards, decant the wort on top of it and repeat the process with 3cups water and 1/2 cup DME.

There are several calculators but im a KISS type person so do some research and trial and error.

Wha do you to when using white labs?


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[starscream]

Wha do you to when using white labs?


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Just bring the yeast up to room temp and pour it in the starter when the starter is at pitching temps. You can add yeast nutrients but i dont. Thats whats in the smack packs, a nutrient pack that breaks open. I use my yeast starter as a way of waking up the yeast, not so much as to increase the cell count. If i were to do a lager, then i would do a multiple step up for increased cell count.

 

[dhelegda]

I am now experimenting it this doesn't take off by time that it's time to brew...then funk it...I'll drive 20 miles to get some dry yeast that I know that works!


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