when to pitch starter?

i am about to brew my next batch. brewing a hefe with wlp300, going to make a 1L yeast starter for a 4 gallon batch.

I bought a light colored barley based DME for the yeast starter. so from what i read i need to let the starter ferment out completely because the yeast enzymes won't be suitable for the wort, the yeast will have prepared enzymes suitable only for a barely wort and i will want to pitch it into wort with a base of wheat.

Should i pitch and active starter ? or let it ferment out and let the yeast hibernate, store up there own energy and pitch then?

how will i know when its fermented out and how long will that take??

 

I'm not 100% certain, but I don't think it matters if you used light DME in your starter. You should be able to pitch that into the wheat beer with no issues. Were you told to get standard light DME, or maybe should you have gotten wheat DME for your starter?

There are lots of resources out there that explain yeast starters. Google search what you're looking for. I would try and find some youtube videos if I were you.

Good luck.

 

I too was under this misconception before finding out that it does not matter if you use regular DME in the starter for a wheat beer or wheat DME for starter for a non-wheat beer.

The maltose is the same regardless of source. The yeast do not care and the same genes in the yeast responsible for the production of the enzymes needed to break down maltose go into gear.

The only issue with starters and DME/wheat DME is to use light colored DME so as not to color the final beer. I decant off most of the starter wort anyway so that is of even less concern.

In short. DME starter is OK to use in a wheat beer. Wheat DME starter is Ok to use in a non-wheat beer.

Note: Wheat DME is a mix of wheat and barley extracts

Here is a decent link on the topic

I'm making a wheat DME starter this evening for a German Alt brew this weekend. (I'm short on DME) No worries.