Brewing today - forgot yeast starter - what to do?

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StarCityBrewMaster

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I can't find anything on short time yeast starters. I am new to the whole WL liquid yeast thing and forgot to make a starter last night knowing that we are brewing today.

I realize I can make a starter and pitch it tomorrow morning but I was curious if I was to make a starter this morning and shook it all day would it be ok to pitch it tonight, say 8-10 hours after making it or would it be better to wait until tomorrow?

Thanks
 
I'm no brewing pro but according to the "How to Brew" book, yeast starters should be made approx. 3-days prior to brew day.

See: Yeast starter instructions

Since you're short on time this time you may need to pitch the liquid yeast without making a starter first. Did you already "smack" the yeast packet and did it inflate?
 
I am no expert but I've used WL liquid yeast without making a starter on several occasions and the final product was comparable to the batches I have made starters for.

As long as you are not making a high OG beer > 1.07 you should be okay.

Keep the unopened vial at room temperature for 3-6 hours before pitching. Mix the vial by inversion so the yeast are in suspension and not stuck to the bottom. Open the vial very slowly, you may or may not hear a hiss of gas escaping and dump in to your primary....wish I was brewing today...
 
5.25 gallons (5.5gal including starter) with OG of 1.064. I am using White Labs 001 - California Ale yeast

I made my last starter 24hours before I pitched it and it's still bubbling today - 7 days after pitching, pretty amazing!
 
"most starters reach their maximum cell density within 12-18 hrs" 'Yeast' by chris white

but if you pitch while the cells are active you have to be very careful to pitch at the same temp as your wort because at this stage you can shock them very easily.

Like funk said I have used WL and WY without starters and have made great beers but you will get more esters and a slower lag time.

If this is a lager you are brewing I would push brewing off for a couple days.
 
It's not going to be the end of the world if you do not make a starter. But you should have one at that SG with 001. You'll need close to 250billion cells. I'd say make a starter now and pitch it in the morning. Or wait till tomorrow evening for better results.

Will this be on a stir plate?

-bn
 
It's not going to be the end of the world if you do not make a starter. But you should have one at that SG with 001. You'll need close to 250billion cells. I'd say make a starter now and pitch it in the morning. Or wait till tomorrow evening for better results.

Will this be on a stir plate?

-bn


I've done that myself a time or two. I've made the starter on brew day morning, Brew that afternoon, and then pitched the next morning. So far - so good...
 
From what I understand Safale US-05 is the same strain.
If you have a homebrew supply in town they should have this dry yeast in stock.
I use it all the time and get very vigorous fermentation from a single 11 gram sachet.
An 11 gram sachet contains on average over 200 billions cells. That's close to the pitching rate suggested for 5 gallons of wort.
Buy two sachets and pitch 1/2 the second sachet to get your wanted cell count.
 
He has White Labs (hence the "WL") so it's a vial, I think, not a smack-pack.

I think you either pitch a packet of dry yeast (if appropriate to the style) or you wait. You don't want to underpitch if you can avoid it.
 
5.25 gallons (5.5gal including starter) with OG of 1.064. I am using White Labs 001 - California Ale yeast

I made my last starter 24hours before I pitched it and it's still bubbling today - 7 days after pitching, pretty amazing!

I think you are going to need a starter considering your OG and the fact you are using white labs, which has a lower yeast count than dry or wyeast. I would get your starter going now. Make your wort now and pitch it tomorrow morning. Just make sure your sanitation is spot on and fermenter is sealed up nice.

I'm not all that experienced myself, but I have been doing a ton of reading and watching of videos. I think 3 days in a starter is too long and would stress your yeast out, especially if you don't refridgerate it. There is such a small amount of sugar for those yeast to eat in a 1 liter starter, that the finish up very quickly. From what I have been reading, 24 hours is good. Than pitch or refridgerate it
 
"most starters reach their maximum cell density within 12-18 hrs" 'yeast' by chris white

but if you pitch while the cells are active you have to be very careful to pitch at the same temp as your wort because at this stage you can shock them very easily.


+1
 
Thanks for all the good advice!

I'm going to make a starter and brew this afternoon. Once the brew is done and in a bucket I will set both the starter and the bucket in the same room to make sure the temps are the same and then pitch tomorrow morning.

Happy brewing :mug:
 
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