Your brewing method

[Raoul_Duke_PhD]

I've recently changed up my brewing process. It seems to work very well so far. I'll cool down my wort to at least 90 degrees. Then, I will fill an Erlenmeyer to about 1-2 liters, depending on gravity, for my starter. Once I do that, I will move my carboy to my temperature controlled vessel to cool it to pitching temperature for the next day. While that is cooling, I use the 1-2 liters I poured off earlier for my starter on a stir plate to be pitched the next day. Anyone else use this method? It works like a champ.

 

[corkybstewart]

No but I've done something vaguely along those lines for years. I make my starter days before I brew, then on the day before brewday I put the flask into the fridge to make the yeast drop out. Once I start sparging I'l collect a couple of liters of wort, boil it to kill bacteria, then chill it to room temp. I decant the liquid of my starter, and replace it with the fresh wort. By the time I've boiled and chilled the wort the starters is going crazy.
I don't like the idea of letting my wort sit overnight to chill, I get mine down to around 60 within 30 minutes and pitch the yeast right away. Though it's not as often now, working as a wellsite geologist used to mean getting called out for jobs at any hour of the day or night, and I might be gone for days so waiting and letting wort chill on it's own would have never worked for me.

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

do you pitch into your starter wort at 90F or further chill that to your standard temp in the sink or something? I've been doing a psuedo no chill quite often lately, it's a nice way to brew 5G on a friday night and leave my weekend wide open for other things. I chill the wort with an IC down to >120F with just a few minutes stirring, then I put the lid on the pot and let it chill to pitching temps overnight before racking to the plastic carboy and pitching the next morning. It works great. I like the added idea of having a starter of that wort ready and rocking for when I pitch as well. Thanks for the tip!

 

[Raoul_Duke_PhD]

do you pitch into your starter wort at 90F or further chill that to your standard temp in the sink or something? I've been doing a psuedo no chill quite often lately, it's a nice way to brew 5G on a friday night and leave my weekend wide open for other things. I chill the wort with an IC down to >120F with just a few minutes stirring, then I put the lid on the pot and let it chill to pitching temps overnight before racking to the plastic carboy and pitching the next morning. It works great. I like the added idea of having a starter of that wort ready and rocking for when I pitch as well. Thanks for the tip!

I chill the starter in some ice water. It gets to pitching temperature quickly. Yeah, I thought whats a better way to do a starter than with the wort of the beer you're gonna be pitching it in? Saves you from decanting and worrying about flavor differences especially with big lager starters. As long as your sanitization is good, the overnight cooling shouldn't be a problem.

I've also broken my brew day up into two days. I'll mash one day, and boil it the next. It works well, too.

 

[helibrewer]

I've also broken my brew day up into two days. I'll mash one day, and boil it the next. It works well, too.

You've never had the mash start to sour?

 

[Raoul_Duke_PhD]

You've never had the mash start to sour?

Not at all.

 

[Raoul_Duke_PhD]

You've never had the mash start to sour?

If your sanitization is good, it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

I've also broken my brew day up into two days. I'll mash one day, and boil it the next. It works well, too.

I do this often as well, usually when I do a 10G batch, but lately i'm gravitating back to smaller batches and brewing more often with the 5Gal pseudo no chill.

 

[catdaddy66]

I also harvest a few liters of second runnings but I don't use them exactly like you. I save it to use for my NEXT batch's starter!

You're right, it works like a charm...

 

[Syke]

Yup. Harvest a bit of the final runnings for a free yeast starter wort.

 

[spittybug]

Sounds like an excellent idea if you use liquid yeast and have good sanitation practices...... Does anyone do this with 10 gallons? Pitch one packet of dry and let it ride for a day and then pitch? Avoid buying a second pack?

 

[corkybstewart]

Sounds like an excellent idea if you use liquid yeast and have good sanitation practices...... Does anyone do this with 10 gallons? Pitch one packet of dry and let it ride for a day and then pitch? Avoid buying a second pack?

I do 10 gallon batches but I always use 2 packs of dry yeast. It's cheap enough to just use 2 and not stress.