Starter Question.

Hello all,

I was just reading in the latest BYO Magazine about a recipe in a previous issue that called for a 4 GAL starter in a 5 GAL batch.

How does that work?

I am very new to brewing and and only used a starter on my last two batches of beer, a pilsner and a hefe. I used a 2 L and 1 L starter for each respectively.

I just left out that amount of wort to "top off" with the starter. Is that the correct method?

Please enlighten me...

 

I was actually going to start a thread about that BYO item.

In that case the 4 gallon starter would be allowed to ferment out completely, then chilled. The yeast would fall out of suspension, at which point the beer would be discarded and the yeast slurry pitched into the 5 gallon batch. So you have made 9 gallons of beer to get 5. It's one of the reasons I mostly use dry yeast for my lagers.

Most people would make a starter from DME (sometimes LME if that's all you have). If you go to http://www.mrmalty.com/starter_faq.php there is very good information on yeast starters that answers most common questions.

 

Not sure what the recipe is for... but I'm assuming its a fairly high OG lager? If so make a smaller starter and brew a lower gravity beer in the 1040s, then use that whole yeast cake for your 5 gallons of the beer listed in the article. Should be spot on for cell counts. And you will have made 2, 5 gallon lagers

 

If you're doing a 1L starter for a 5g (~20L) batch, then you can pitch the spent starter liquid (beer) w/o much flavor impact.

If you're doing a, say, 10L starter for a 20L batch, then that spent beer is going to have a big impact, and it becomes more important to crash the yeast and decant the beer.

 

Thanks for the quick replies! I've looked at the link previously but haven't investigated it in depth. I think that's my next read.

 

The other factor is aeration, I have not read the article but if you use a stir plate you make more than double the amount of yeast from half the size starter. I would not consider a lager without a stir plate. When playing with yeast calcs like mr malty you can see the effect of the aeration by putting in the same numbers and then use the drop down tab to change aeration method.

Clem

 

If I needed a starter that big I would probably just do a lower gravity 5 gal batch and then pitch the whole yeast cake (or most of it if you're worried about overpitching for whatever reason)