2 gallon starter?

[ShakerD]

This is my first time using a liquid yeast and according to the mr malty calculator I need a 2 gallon starter for my 12 gallon brew.

Is there a reasonably easy way to make a 2 gallon starter? I don't really want to make a batch under 10 gallons if I don't have to.

I am using Wyeast 3878 Trappist

 

[barrooze]

Get or make a stirplate. This greatly reduces the starter volume. If you don't want to do that try the intermittent stirring option. That will reduce the volume as well.

What's the OG of your brew?

 

[ShakerD]

I don't have a stirplate but I was planning on shaking the starter every time I walked by.

I was planning on making 12 gallons of 1.044 beer. I will wash the yeast after to keep it on hand.

 

[barrooze]

What date was your yeast packaged? It doesn't seem like you'd need a 7.5 L starter for a 1.044 OG beer as that's about the same SG of starter wort.

 

[wolverinebrewer]

I don't have a stirplate but I was planning on shaking the starter every time I walked by.

I was planning on making 12 gallons of 1.044 beer. I will wash the yeast after to keep it on hand.

I get a 2 liter starter with 2 packs when inputed on Malty (372 bill cells). Thats assuming you are starting with a very fresh pack.

 

[ShakerD]

What date was your yeast packaged? It doesn't seem like you'd need a 7.5 L starter for a 1.044 OG beer as that's about the same SG of starter wort.

Feb 2011

I was just going by the Mr malty calc.

I didn't really want to buy two packages because the LHBS sells them for $10 each.

I just noticed that intermittent shaking drops it down to just over 4 liters

 

[ShakerD]

I changed the production date to Feb 15, on the Mr Malty Calc, to better reflect the actual production and it went back up to 6 liters.

 

[SwampassJ]

I changed the production date to Feb 15, on the Mr Malty Calc, to better reflect the actual production and it went back up to 6 liters.

This is something I never really understood about Mr. Malty.

1. 5 gallons of 1.044 Ale with an 80% viable yeast calls for 1Liter starter shaken.

2. 10 gallons of 1.044 Ale with an 80% viable yeast calls for 4Liters starter shaken.

I would say make a 1Liter starter first, crash cool and decant. Then pitch that into a bigger 3L starter.

 

[ShakerD]

I think I am going to just make a 2.5 gallon batch and pitch the cake onto my 12 gallon 1.044 batch.

Then wash the yeast and make another 12 gallon batch, again at 1.044, and then dump a 1.085-1.095 triple's wort on the cake.

Would that make sense?

 

[barrooze]

Sure. That method was going to be my first suggestion but I thought you had said you didn't want to make a smaller batch. Regardless, if you just make a small beer with your yeast, that will act as a starter. Ferment it out and wash that yeast. Then you'll have enough for your 12 gallon batch. You can use the slurry tab on mrmalty if you want.

 

[emjay]

This is something I never really understood about Mr. Malty.

1. 5 gallons of 1.044 Ale with an 80% viable yeast calls for 1Liter starter shaken.

2. 10 gallons of 1.044 Ale with an 80% viable yeast calls for 4Liters starter shaken.

Not sure what you don't understand about it, but you seem to be operating under the assumption that the amount of yeast cells created as a function of starter size should be linear. It isn't.

This is because the initial amount of yeast cells is also a hugely important variable that obviously impacts the final cell count, so a 4-fold increase in starter volume needs to be met with a 4-fold increase in viable cells in order to create quadruple the amount of cells to be pitched. In other words, making a starter twice as big does not create the doubled amount of cells needed for a batch twice the size.

 

[kanzimonson]

Yeah when it comes to making 11gal batches or big lagers, pretty much the smartest thing to do is brew a smaller beer first.

 

[ShakerD]

Sure. That method was going to be my first suggestion but I thought you had said you didn't want to make a smaller batch. Regardless, if you just make a small beer with your yeast, that will act as a starter. Ferment it out and wash that yeast. Then you'll have enough for your 12 gallon batch. You can use the slurry tab on mrmalty if you want.

You are 100% correct. I did say that I didn't want to make a smaller beer but after I weighed all my options it just seemed like it made the most sense.

 

[barrooze]

So what kind of brew is the 1.044 going to be?

 

[ShakerD]

So I went to the HBS and they don`t actually have the Wyeast 3878 Trappist that I wanted despite what they said when I called.

I didn`t want to go home empty handed so I picked up the Wyeast Belgian Ardennes 3522. Not what I wanted but the closest thing to it that they had.

The recipe I was going to use was:

Small Belgian
Belgian Blond Ale


Type: All Grain
Date: 10/03/2011
Batch Size: 2.50 gal
Brewer: ShakerD
Boil Size: 3.01 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 90 min Equipment: My Equipment
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 88.00
Taste Notes:

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
3.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 85.71 %
0.50 lb Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 14.29 %
0.25 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (60 min) Hops 7.7 IBU
0.25 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (15 min) Hops 3.8 IBU
1 Pkgs Belgian Ardennes (Wyeast Labs #3522) Yeast-Wheat



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.011 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.44 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 0.65 %
Bitterness: 11.5 IBU Calories: 43 cal/pint
Est Color: 4.1 SRM Color: Color

Mash Profile

My Mash Step Time Name Description Step Temp
90 min Step Add 0.00 qt of water at 152.0 F 152.0 F

Anyone want to comment on the recipe?

I have lots of different malts and hops on hand and would value the input.

Cheers

 

[barrooze]

It's fine how you have it but if you want to try something different I'd up the bittering hops a touch. I think 11 IBUs is a little low. Also, you could sub in some wheat in place of some pilsner.

 

[ShakerD]

I was thinking about the low IBU's the are much lower than I normally would use.

What would you recommend for IBUs?

How much wheat should I use?

I also have Vienna, 2row, Pils, Pale, Special Aromatic and Honey

 

[pfooti]

First, your avatar is almost annoying enough for me to not reply. Just sayin.

Second, you can do a two-stage starter for ramping up a big beer (either a big batch or a heavy beer). The idea is instead of having a big single starter, make a smaller starter run it to completion, cold crash it, decant off the wort, and follow up with a second starter.

1) fiddle with the OG and volume settings until you get a suggested starter size equal to whatever your first stage starter is (500 mL maybe?). Make sure the growth-factor slider is set all the way to the right so the calc doesn't tell you to use two vials.

2) Write down the target number of yeast cells (240 billion or whatever) that the calculator gives in (1).

3) Manually set the OG, volume of the calc to the actual brew you're making.

4) Manually set the viability percentage in the calc to whatever number you wrote down in (2). So if it claims you'll have 120 billion cells after your first stage, set the viability to 120%. That's the main trick here.

5) This new volume is the size of your second step, provided you ferment the first step nearly completely, crash cool, and decant off the liquid.

I've done this a few times, mainly for my big beers that require more than 1.5L in a 1-step starter, as I only have a 2L flask. Works pretty well so far.

 

[ShakerD]

First, your avatar is almost annoying enough for me to not reply. Just sayin.

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