Question for you Brewers that use the 1000 ML Flasks for your Yeast Starters...

What the hell do you use for an air lock?

 

Use some sanitized foil. You actually want it to 'breath' a bit and seep O2 back into the flask (assuming that your home air is of reasonable quality). Alternatively, some sanitized plastic wrap and a rubber band is the cheap solution, or a drilled bung and a plastic airlock works of course.

 

~#7 or 7.5 rubber stopper(with hole) with an air lock in it. Normal. Maybe I'm missing something.

 

Yeah, your missing something alright.


Some of us have never seen one of these Flasks in person. So, I thought that an air lock would not fit. Now get off your High Horse and go have a Home Brew and let us know when you're ready to hang with the normal Folk again.


As far as the tin foil cover, I just don't trust it. I don't like how it has the opportunity for contamination so readily. Thanks for the input though.

 

I've been doing it that way forever. And you don't really have to sanitize it; it's sanitary right out of the box, but if it makes you feel better, go for it.

 

Yeah no kidding. The CO2 that's coming out will keep anything from going in.
I have heard that it's best to keep adding O2 to your starters. But I need to do more reading on that one before I try it.

 

Foil works fine for me :cross:

 

Never had a problem with foil.

 

Check it out dude ...... http://morebeer.com/view_product/16636. If you wanted to you could put an air lock in a pigs **s. One liter flask is great for ales, to small for lagers ....... so....... http://morebeer.com/view_product/19891/102367. But, you don't want to use an air lock, you want to use foil or one of these... http://morebeer.com/view_product/16797?PHPSESSID=a0ec2ab74bed969d641b6ca351c1c9d5........ Hope my horse ain't to high fer ya.........

 

Thanks for the Great Links Farmer!!!

 

I use a foam stopper. It allows the starter to breathe on a stirplate. You can find them down this page: http://www.northernbrewer.com/yeast-handling.html

 

I use foil. It get sanitized during the 10 minute boil on the stove. I've never had a problem. When I pull it off to add yeast, I will spray the inside with Starsan.

 

The reason I phrazed my response that way was not to be mocking, I genuinly wasn't sure I understood the question and if I was answering what you were looking for. I don't like to make assumptions, but I did assume you had seen one. I thought you had one, or were ordering one and thus would have seen a picture online, or would be asking if( or what size) stopper would fit the flask. I can see my response could be viewed as arrogant/belittling. I really apologize for that, that's the last way I wish to treat members of the forum. Hope there's no hard feelings.
Lastly, I don't trust foil either. I think it gave me an idea for an experiment....

 

foil works in my lab but I also use a sanatized stopper and an airlock as well
JJ

 

No hard feeling here. Everyone interprerts everything differently.

 

If you read this articlce it may change your opinion regarding using foil or an airlock. You want your starter to uptake O2 for good yeast growth. YeastStarter

 

Great article, very interesting. My thought has always been; if the foil lets CO2 out, during the first hours before the yeast start really working isn't it letting stuff in? But it seems like I'm in the vast minority using an airlock. I may keep using one, but I'll be sure to aerate throughout, and not just at the beggining.

 

Another member of the Foil squad here. NEVER had a problem with it.

 

Actually, you WANT to let gas in -- otherwise you aren't continuously aerating (at least, not with O2 -- it is going to get pushed out the airlock when fermentation gets going). For example, if you use a stir plate, you would definitely not want to put an airlock on the flask -- it would partially defeat the purpose of the stirring in oxygen since O2 is never going to get replenished in the flask.

There is a very small risk with foil that something nasty gets sucked into the flask contaminating it. However, all that yeast makes for a pretty inhospitable environment for bugs. More of a concern should be that you flame or Star San the mouth of the flask before pouring out the yeast solution. That is where things like wild yeast might accumulate.

If you are really worried about using foil, a drilled bung and a sanitary inline HEPA filter (preferably one that is autoclavable) is the absolute BEST way to go, IMO.

 

We use tin foil routinely in the lab (its completelt sterile cause they have been autoclaved) but for homebrewing as edwort has mentioned letting it sit on the flask (watch out for boil overs) while boiling for a few minutes will do the same job.

Don't worry about microbial contamination bugs only falls downwards (just use a bit extra foil and squeeze it in around the neck).

Check out pasteurs famous swan neck flask experiment which allows the free passage of air into the flask but prevents dust (microbes getting in) which pretty much killed the spontaneous generation theory in vogue at that time.

 

+1, and here's a link: http://www.kent.k12.wa.us/staff/TimLynch/sci_class/chap01/pasteur.html

 

Not cool. I think someone needs to RDWHAHB...

 

I use the foam stopper from NB

 

"Table 5 estimates the approximate volumes of starters necessary to pitch 5 gallons of wort at 10 million cells per ml. The traditional airlock starter is very inefficient at generating yeast and it would take almost 2.5 gallons (5-10 liters) of starter to generate enough yeast for a 5 gallon batch! Mechanically shaking your starter intermittently so as to resuspend the yeast is moderately effective and is the easiest and most cost-effective thing you can do to improve the efficiency of your starter. In this case you would need about a 0.75 gallon (3 Liter) starter to generate enough yeast. As mentioned above the stir plate is by far the most efficient."

i copied this from that page. my question is if i am manually stirring the starter and they are recommending that i use 3L of starter (shopping for either 5000mL or 2000mL flask) and more yeast would be needed for high gravs what size flask would you recommend?

 

starsan flask before removing foil or do it directly to mouth after removing foil?

 

I have switched from a 1000 ml flask to a one gallon glass jug. I am using 3 quart starters and I can definately tell that I am getting more yeast growth. I tried boiling in the flask but never really liked it as it would foam out if I did not watch it like a hawk. Save a few bucks and try the jug.

 

I've got a 3L flask that I use on the stove...

I'm a foil man but I occasionly dip into the plastic wrap/rubberband

 

i work in a restaurant and our franks red hot comes 1 gallon growler style jugs, but how do you prep? stock pot (water) w steamer underneath jug to prevent breakage (wouldnt imagine it would be a good idea to sit directly on burner). doesnt seem cooling down would be as quick as flask either. figured a borosilicate would be more favorable bc of durability (temps). and if ican be a super nOob for a sec..do you start starter the same way or bump up dme, h2o, etc. how many days prior to pitching should i give myself to get starter to 3L?

 

Just use foil. No need for a huge debate.

Oh, and RDWHAHB!

 

I boil the DME in a pot and then transfer to the sanitized jug when it is cooled.It's easier for me to make up a couple of gallons of Iodaphor to keep things clean. Give yourself 2 days for the starter to ferment out, decant the spent liquid after chilling. The flasks are nice and I am not cheap but the jug seemed like a good alternative for me.

 

..definitely relaxed..but if you read my threads (see above postings) would see that i am asking about the starter vessel itself, and i use tin foil so i will try to keep the debate to a minimum

 

You want to santize the mouth of the flask after removing the foil to ensure it is sanitized before you pour your starter through it. Just an extra precaution to ensure that you don't contaminate it.

 

so youre doing 1950mL h2o and 1.5c DME?

 

I use 8 oz. for a 3 quart starter. Keep the temp in the 70's. There is another ratio that is used which is 1 gram for every 10ml of starter. Have you checked out this great reference? >> Mr.Malty

 

from mr.malty.com :"Another case where you generally don’t want to make a starter is with dry yeast. It is usually cheaper and easier to just buy more dry yeast than it would be to make a starter large enough for most dry yeast packs. Many experts suggest that placing dry yeasts in a starter would just deplete the reserves that the yeast manufacturer worked so hard to build into their product. For dry yeasts, just do a proper rehydration in tap water, do not make a starter."

thought dry yeast would be an instance where you would definitely want to do a starter.

 

I have a 1k mL flask and a 1gal jug. I like the jug better. Except for decanting. For that I like a straight walled container.

 

That's what I do. I'm in the crowd that had big pains, trying to boil the flask on the stove.


TL

 

Like the old and somewhat overused saying

"You learn something every day"

 

Never heard that before. Guess I learned something today!