Do I need a yeast starter?

New to brewing and new to the forum. About to make an American Farmhouse Ale, my third brew. I have a vial of WhiteLabs American Farmhouse Yeast. For a 5 gallon brew, it is advertised to do well but just pitching in the vial. Should I take the extra step and make a starter with it? I know it helps grow the yeast, but would there be any advantage to do this with this yeast and this brew?

-Pickle

 

While not mandatory, making a starter is absolutely recommended, if you are able.

 

Two reasons you should do a starter: 1) Builds cell count. 2) When pitched, yeast is already awake and hungry.

 

starters are always beneficial to build a healthy pitch

 

Ah the age old question. Will you make beer without yes? Usually. Will the beer be as good as it could / should be? Probably not. I always look at starters as cheap insurance especially if I'm using liquid yeast. I'd rather take the 15 minutes to whip one up before the brew day than regret not making one.

 

Interesting that no one has asked about OG. Personally, if the OG is under 1.040 and I'm able to aerate adequately, I won't do a starter. Part of it's laziness, but part of it is that under those circumstances, it's really not necessary. But, rarely do my brews fall into that category, so I make a starter the vast majority of the time.

Other advantages to doing a starter are to check for yeast viability (especially if the vial is old) and to propagate yeast before pitching so that you don't have to worry about washing the yeast. The latter is only if you plan on keeping certain strains in-house, though.

 

thanks for all the advise. Next question: Is 36-48 hours before pitching alright to make a starter, or is 24 about the limit. Another words, can I make the starter 48 hours before making the beer without losing it's effectiveness?

 

I usually make my starter (using stir plate) 3 days ahead of brew day.

As to your first post, as someone mentioned usually under 1.040 you don't need a starter. However, one caveat to that is how old the the yeast is. The older the yeast, the more likely you need to make a starter. White Labs uses "best by" dates, so you need to subtract 4 months off the date of the vial to determine the "born on" date. Then use a yeast starter calculator online to determine whether you need a starter.

 

I've made starters the day before, 2 days before and 3 days before. I have not noticed a difference, but all those starters were for different beers, so maybe it's unreasonable to notice a difference. I would encourage you to refrigerate the starter however after it's done fermenting (usually day 2) if you can't brew 'till the third day. Then, on that third (brew) day, take it out of the fridge and let it warm to room temperature prior to pitching. The reason for putting it in the fridge after day 2 is because it will help the yeast not go into their reserves of energy and then they can use all their strength on your upcoming wort.