what, & why starters

hello,
just need to ask a real newbie question' how do you make a starter, are they needed every time, pros, cons, etc.,etc., etc.,...... just trying to load up on all the info I can get to brew the best beer I can. thank you for your patience.

 

Starter is so that the yeast will start going at the fermentable sugars quicker. I usually just put the yeast in some warm water, and add some sugar.

 

to make a starter you make a mini batch of beer. take your beer recipe and scale it down to about half a gallon. put that in a properly sanitized container shake to aerate. then add yeast. then put an airlock on and let it sit in a cool place for 2 days. by then you should have a nice layer of yeast at the bottom. pour off the liquid only then add the stuff at the bottom to your real 5 gallon wart.

starters are not strictly needed but they can be good. they are meant to give you a head start on the fermentation process. when live yeast are first introduced to a wart they dont really know what to do. it takes them a little while to adjust to the environment. creating a starter gets the yeast going and in an active phase before they are added to the wart. during the starter phase the yeast are multiplying like crazy, not fermenting, and producing byproducts that can affect your beer but not in a bad way.

 

Liquid yeasts require starters to reach the optimum pitching rates. Dry yeast can either be sprinkled right in, or rehydrated.

Reasons behind making a starter are to proof your yeast (ensure they are viable), raise cell counts (reduces yeast stress which in turn reduces lag time and off flavors), making for an overall healthier fermentation.

Use about 1/2 cup DME per 2 cups of water. Boil water, add DME a pinch of yeast nutrient is also good, cool to pitching temps, aerate, pitch yeast, aerate again, cap with foil, and swirl the starter as often as possible for the first 18-24 hours. You can either pitch at this time which is "high kraeusen", or chill in the fridge for about 24 hours decant the liquid and pitch only the yeast slurry.

Check out the Wiki, or do a search for starters, tons of info!

I don't brew without a starter anymore!:rockin:

EDIT: www.mrmalty.com

 

This link should give you all of the information you need:

Fourteen Essential Questions About Yeast Starters

 

Starters are used to wake up the yeast cells and increase their population by putting them in a low stress/high nutrient and oxygen environment. Do not use any sugar other than maltose, this is why DME is typically used for making the starter wort.

Pros:
Increased cell count
Shortened lag time
Assurance that the yeast is viable
Better beer

Cons:
You have to plan ahead so the starter is ready to pitch when your wort is cool.
You have to be extremely sanitary throughout the entire starter process.

 

I've done one batch with a dry yeast, and one with a liquid yeast (smack-pack). From what I understand, it is best to rehydrate the dry yeast, and to make a starter for the liquid yeast. To rehydrate, just pour the dry yeast in to a jar of pre-boiled water, that is cooled down to about your pitching temperature. You can just pour this on top of your aerated wort after cooling. The instructions that Schnitzengiggle left are very close to what I did for my starter. The main reason, IMO, for making a starter is to acclimate the yeast to the chemical profile and conditions of your brew, and to increase the cell count, because, for some reason, Wyeast and White Labs don't give you enough yeast to pitch directly to a 5 gallon batch.

One question I had, which I was able to answer through research on this forum, was can you refrigerate the starter after making it. From what I was able to find, you should refrigerate it after 2-3 days, and it will last you quite awhile as long as its refrigerated. It should be warmed to pitching temps prior to pitching it though.

 

What about AG yeast starters? Would I pull off some wort from the mash, cool it and pitch?

 

Most people just keep a few pounds of light or extra light DME on hand strictly for starters whether doing extract or AG brews.

 

Yeah but you still need to boil it to sanitize it.

 

The problem with pulling off wort and saving it to make a starter is the gravity of the wort. A starter should be ~1.040 OG. You could correct this by boiling and cooling water but you're not saving much time then.

I find an Erlenmeyer flask on the stove with a 1 cup DME to 1 quart H2O ratio works fine. I think John Palmer's yeast starter explanation is pretty good from a utilitarian standpoint. I don't agree with the time and effort it requires to rehydrate dry yeast, though.

 

Creating a starter does several different things. Yes, it does jump start the yeast, but also proves that your yeast are still viable and living. It also helps increase the colony size of your yeast quite substancially. The liquid vials of yeast and even the smackpacks do not have enough yeast to directly pitch into your wort. You need to make sure that you have enough yeast to ensure that no off flavors are produced due to them being strained during the replication phase.

 

As I understood it, you want your starter to match your brew as closely as possible, and that includes the OG of your brew, and even the type of malts and grains you used, if plausible. I've even heard of people steeping specialty grains in their starter (however, that seems a little over the top). Is that not the case?

 

Untrue, you want your starter wort to have an OG of about 1.040.

The purpose is to grow healthy yeast that will be ready for battle, placing them into an environment that has too much sugar may cause them to poop out prematurely.

Check out www.MrMalty.com a plethora of yeast starter information and other brewing related topics.

 

Interesting, I'll definitely check it out. Thanks!

 

Could I boil water in my pyrex measuring jar in the microwave and just dissolve the DME? Seems like that would sanitize the water and the jar, then I could cover it in foil and shove it in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.

Sorry to have hijacked this thread but hopefully it's useful to OP

 

Wyeast and White Labs claim 100 billion cells is enough to pitch into up to 1.06 OG wort.
You've seen plenty say that isn't so. Still I have had success with it.

MrMalty is good but he isn't holy writ. You can try different things.

Assuming you keep sanitary a starter certainly won't hurt and you're taking a chance if you use liquid yeast without one, but for ales at 1.06 and below I don't feel the need for a starter with an activator.

 

this forum is great, gone from a newbie to a pro in 2 easy steps(sic), no really I am very thankful for the info that is so readily given, thanx again from the bottom of my secondary!! will start my 3rd batch( summer ale) this weekend!!

 

Both are good points.
Another thing to keep in mind is that some flavor profiles come from stressing the yeast, so sometimes you want to underpitch.