Another Lager Yeast Starter Question (collective groan)

[imaguitargod]

I know I know, search the forums. Well, I did (fed my brain until it hurt) so "Naaaaaaanah na nah na!!!"

Brewing this Sunday (my first lager...a doppelbock, 1.077 SG) going to buy the yeast (White Labs) on Tuesday. For my starter should I:

1. Make a regular starter and add 2 vials of White Labs yeast and let it ferment for a 3 days at 52Fish, cool it to 36F until Sunday, rack off the liquid, let it warm to pitching temps (add some wort, swirl) and pitch.
2. Do #1 but with 1 vial.
3. Make a starter that's close to half a gallon and do the rest of #1.
6. Make a starter that's close to a half a gallon and do #2?

Now, keep in mind I'm trying to get a big sample of yeast from my local brewery.

Another question on the starter. If I do a big starter how much DME should I use? A pound? And since I'm not stiring it (or should I?) should I just afix a airlock or still use the tin foil method?

 

[krops13]

http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html
check out this website. Its a yeast pitch rate calculator. Also I'd say no on the air lock if your not going to agitate it. And option 2 sounds good with how ever much volume mrmalty says.

 

[PT Ray]

You need something like 5 vials of yeast. Pitching one into a 2000ml starter will double the yeast. So if starting with 2 vials you'll need to at least make a 2000ml starter for each or maybe pitch both in a gallon starter. That should roughly equal 4 vials.

I just made two 2000ml starters and let them ferment at 62 degrees for 10 days. Decanted and pitched slurry in a Dortmunder yesterday. Between that and a 4 week old Pils I'll have enough yeast from them to do some Bocks.

Maybe this wasn't a direct answer to your question but maybe in a round about way.

 

[schristian619]

agreed. you will need a lot more yeast than your methods will produce. I was planning on making a doppelbock as my first lager as well, but changed courses after reseaching starter sizes. I decided on a schwarzbier as my "starter" and will use that cake for my doppelbock. For the schwarzbier (1.051), I made a 1.5 liter starter fermented at room temp until finished. Then I crash cooled it, and added another 1.5-2 liters of starter wort. Again fermented at room temp, then crash cooled and pitched slurry. I would recommend either making a smaller lager first and using that cake, or making a much larger starter (maybe 1 gallon). Everything I read said room temp is fine for starter fermentation, as long as your not pitching the whole thing, but cool the yeast down to fermentation temp prior to pitching to avoid temp shock.