Stepping up a Yeast Starter [Video]

I've always had trouble finding a clear guide on stepping up starters. What volumes? What pitching rates? I knew you could do it on Mr. Malty, but it takes some toying with the calculator.

Fortunately, Jamil and Chris White's new book Yeast has a great table for figuring out the correct steps. Jamil gave me permission to publish it on my blog. I recreated a portion (the most relevant portion) of it in Excel and even added some pretty formatting.

Here it is: How to Step up a Yeast Starter

The video explains the table and gives an example "step-up."

A couple of the other yeast threads I've posted have helped HBTers so I put those links in my signature.

BTW I highly recommend you get a copy of Yeast. Cheers

great video, thanks!

Your video was the most informative piece of information I have found on stepping up starters. You did a great job, thank you!:rockin:

Thanks guys. It was an area where I felt there was a gap in information. Big props to Jamil for creating the table and letting me publish it.

Thanks for the video and chart! I may have to pick up that book.

It is a little confusing, but I think I've got it under control. Here's what I did for my latest starter.

Mr. Malty tells me I want 450 million cells. I started with 1 smack-pack in 2L of wort (4oz of DME to 1L of water). After it was on the stir plate for a couple days, I stuck it in the fridge overnight.

Next day I decanted most of the wort off, then added that yeast to 4L of fresh wort and stuck it back on the stirplate. If I'm reading the chart correctly, that should net me 400 million cells, which is close enough for Gubment work in my book.

-Joe

Nice table. What starter type is this based on. Mr. Malty gives 5 options. I use a stirplate and this does not seem to match up.

nostalgia said:

Thanks for the video and chart! I may have to pick up that book.

It is a little confusing, but I think I've got it under control. Here's what I did for my latest starter.

Mr. Malty tells me I want 450 million cells. I started with 1 smack-pack in 2L of wort (4oz of DME to 1L of water). After it was on the stir plate for a couple days, I stuck it in the fridge overnight.

Next day I decanted most of the wort off, then added that yeast to 4L of fresh wort and stuck it back on the stirplate. If I'm reading the chart correctly, that should net me 400 million cells, which is close enough for Gubment work in my book.

-Joe

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that chart is based from a non stir plate so you actually have 2-3 time more

That makes so much more sense. Thank you so much.

Thanks for the video explaining that. Very helpful.

I also recommend the book. Very informative and really easy to grasp the concepts in it.

Thank you! I've been looking for a tutorial for yeast step-ups and your video did the trick! Now I know how to get my 450 billion cells for my first lager...

Great video, thank you for making it!

I have a question though: when do we know that it's time to "step-up" to the next level? Do you go by time elapsed or some other indicator like krausen rising and falling?

To put this question another way: How do I know when the yeast starter is done fermenting and ready to be stepped-up to the next level?

Great video! Thanks!

I think I need to buy that book too.

Seven said:

Great video, thank you for making it!

I have a question though: when do we know that it's time to "step-up" to the next level? Do you go by time elapsed or some other indicator like krausen rising and falling?

To put this question another way: How do I know when the yeast starter is done fermenting and ready to be stepped-up to the next level?

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Good question. I run my stir plate for 18-24 hours at room temp (70-75*F) for each step. Maybe Billy can chime in with what the Pope says in his book.

If I were making a starter from yeast that I had washed from a previous batch as described in the sticky thread, how would I know how many cells of yeast I was starting with to use the pitch count calculator?
You say that 1 package of yeast has 100 billion cells. If you just use a certain amount of wort, like 1 liter, are you still going to end up 200 billions cells in the end even if you started with less than 100 billion cells?

That's a good explanation on how to use the table to make the right amount of cells. However, the book "Yeast" also explains in detail why you should step up in 5-10x increments, involving the state of the yeast after the fermentation. Pitching 2L starter into another 2L starter could be considered vastly overpitching, and the resultant cells might not be in great health. I'm far from an expert here, but I think it has to do with oxygen and stearols or something....

Is it possible to simply add new wort to the flask on the stir plate and get the same (or similar) effect? It seems that if I pitch a smack pack into 500 ml of wort and let it go on the stir plate for 6 hours, then add another 500 ml of wort, repeat this over the next 24 hours, I would have a 2L starter with a bunch more than 100 billion yeast cells. I doubt it is as efficient in terms of creating yeast cells but I bet it would more than double in size and take a lot less time and effort.

Hey Billy, did you take this video down, or will my PC just not play it for some reason. It says "Video not loaded".

Very nice video Billy, it's good to see someone trying to help the brewing community learn better ways to improve the quality of their beers.

mikeysab said:

Hey Billy, did you take this video down, or will my PC just not play it for some reason. It says "Video not loaded".

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Hmm it's working for me. Anyone else having problems playing the video?

Sulli said:

Very nice video Billy, it's good to see someone trying to help the brewing community learn better ways to improve the quality of their beers.

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Thanks. I wish I could give back even 10% of what I've learned on HBT.