About to use almost 3 week old slurry. How big of a starter?

[Thehopguy]

I use a stir plate. And have about 100 mL of washed yeast going on 3 weeks old by the time I brew.

So my question is how big of a starter do I make? I use mr malty and it says how many mL of slurry to use. so do i..

1. Use xx mL and just pitch straight into wort ( no starter )

2. Make a starter ( if so how big ) , and secondly, wouldn't this be propogating more yeast, leading to over pitching?

So confused :cross:

 

[pabloj13]

100mL of yeast solids or 100mL of slurry? What size and OG batch?

 

[Thehopguy]

well its in the fridge. so about 100 mL of yeast solids. OG would be about 1.068 for about 5 - 5.25 gallons

 

[pabloj13]

Looks like MrMalty calls for ~100mL of yeast solids for a 5.25 batch of 1.068 if they're 3 weeks old. Maybe ok to just pitch it?

 

[Thehopguy]

so no starter...?

 

[pabloj13]

so no starter...?

I'm not expert but 100mL of solids is a lot if the viability is high. I would be glad to hear other people chime in on this, but it seems like you could get away without one. I'm a fan of starters though.

 

[beerman0001]

You do not need a starter.

 

[Doomsday]

100ml of yeast solids is a pretty decent ammount, and judging by pabloj's calculations you should be right on the money.

 

[ghank15]

A starter is most likely not necessary, however, a small starter wouldn't really hurt. It would ensure both viability and that the yeast are active.

It also depends on the style of beer. For A brew such as a hefe , I wouldn't use a starter because you want some esters. However, most lagers or clean ales don't require esters, so pitching unstressed yeast would allow for clean fermentation.

 

[Calder]

If you have good handling and storage procedures, it is fine to straight pitch. I do it all the time up to a month and never had a problem (there is always a first time though).