.5 liter starter , is it worth it ?

[Romex2121]

Im planning on making a 3 gal. Batch of
Bee Caves Kolsch in the next few days ,, sooner if i dont have to wait on starter ,,, BrewersFriend says i need 110 billion cells of WLP029 for the estimated 1.052 OG. 3 gal. Batch of Kolsch ..
Yeast was mfg 08/18/2019 BrewersFriend says there is only 67 billion cells available as is , a .5 litter starter ( shaken , no stirplate ) will get me 122 billion cells , is it really worth it to do a .5 litter starter or would i be fine just pitching the yeast as is ??

 

[mongoose33]

Im planning on making a 3 gal. Batch of
Bee Caves Kolsch in the next few days ,, sooner if i dont have to wait on starter ,,, BrewersFriend says i need 110 billion cells of WLP029 for the estimated 1.052 OG. 3 gal. Batch of Kolsch ..
Yeast was mfg 08/18/2019 BrewersFriend says there is only 67 billion cells available as is , a .5 litter starter ( shaken , no stirplate ) will get me 122 billion cells , is it really worth it to do a .5 litter starter or would i be fine just pitching the yeast as is ??

Just pitch that in, no starter.

I'm not kidding.

Went to a yeast workshop last march taught by Chris White; you know, the guy whose name is on your package of WLP029.

He says he'd just normally pitch the yeast, no starter; exceptions are if you have a big beer, or maybe a lager, but for ales, he'd just dump it in.

****

I've brewed a couple of kolsch's lately, and have done exactly that--just dumped the yeast in, no starter. It was against my better judgement, but my son has done this several times to great effect (he was at the workshop too, plus he's a microbiologist).

Well. When I did that with -029, it produced a fabulous beer. At 9 days--NINE DAYS--it was kegged and carbonated and I brought it to my LHB club to see what they thought. I didn't tell them I had used no starter, didn't tell them the beer was grain-to-glass in 9 days.

It was a hit.

I have another package of WLP-029 in my fridge waiting for a brew day when I'm going to brew the Kolsch again. And I'm going to just pitch it, no starter. And that, with confidence.

BTW: I fermented at 60 degrees.

 

[Romex2121]

Good deal , while i haven't had the chance to be schooled by Chris White personally
i have read some of his writings saying the same thing as you did ; no starter needed ;
Only thing is this conflicts with just about everything ive read about this yeast ,
Granted 3 gals. Is less than a 5 gal. Batch so im thinking ill be fine to just pull yeast from fridge let it warm up to wort temp
( 64 ish ) and pitch it....

 

[MaxStout]

Your yeast is just over a month old, so still very high population of cells. It's a 3 gallon batch of wort that's 1.052, so not very high gravity. Just direct pitch, it'll do fine.

 

[tellyho]

Say no to starter tyranny!

 

[mulletmaster]

Another thing White Labs states is the vitality of their pure pitch packages is improved and i am not sure the online calculators take this into account.

 

[IslandLizard]

Another thing White Labs states is the vitality of their pure pitch packages is improved and i am not sure the online calculators take this into account.

Indeed, the PurePitch sleeves retain higher viability than previous packaging. Even after 3 months in the fridge the viability is still round 90%. Our yeast calculators don't take that into consideration. So tweak your calc cells to reflect it.

[...] The “Best Before” date comes from hundreds of internal trials, ultimately showing that after five months in PurePitch® packaging the average viability of first generation yeast remains at more than 79%. Essentially, all yeast passes QC at 95% or higher viability, and there is only a 3.2% decrease in viability month-over-month.

More on that here:
https://www.whitelabs.com/news/purepitch-shelf-life

Now making a traditional starter is still a good idea. Especially when the yeast is older and/or was shipped in. You'll ramp up cell count for larger pitches and Lagers, can save some out for a next batch (yeast ranching), and above all, proves viability.

Making a "vitality starter" is another option to optimize viability for faster lift off, as does oxygenation. I oxygenate the vitality starter and pitch the yeast while oxygenating the wort.

 

[RPh_Guy]

Making a "vitality starter" is another option to optimize viability for faster lift off

Yeah, all my starters are 500mL.