Can I make enough yeast starters?

[dirtybasementbrew]

I recently came across a 45 gallon Brew set up, and I have plenty of yeast. The problem is all the yeast strains I have are enough to make starters for 5 gallon batches. Can I just keep making starters to build supply without hurting the yeast? I've seen commercial brewers with full pint jars of yeast. Do I have to buy like that?


Dirty B.

 

[Riot]

As long as you keep everything sanitary you can keep growing until you run out of space. Max out at about a tenfold increase for each step

 

[dirtybasementbrew]

As long as you keep everything sanitary you can keep growing until you run out of space. Max out at about a tenfold increase for each step

Tenfold? How is this calculate? By wort gravity?


Dirty B.

 

[Riot]

Keep the wort gravity the same throughout the steps. Once the first one has fermented out you should be able to pitch it into 10 times its volume. Repeat until you have what you need for the batch.

 

[dirtybasementbrew]

Keep the wort gravity the same throughout the steps. Once the first one has fermented out you should be able to pitch it into 10 times its volume. Repeat until you have what you need for the batch.

Ty Riot, I understand


Dirty B.

 

[pdxal]

Another option off the top of my head is to use one of your starters sufficient for a 5 gallon batch and make a 5 gallon batch of beer, then use the cake for a 45 gallon batch for a 9 fold increase in propagation and probably a decent pitch rate.
45 gallons is a lot of beer!

 

[dirtybasementbrew]

Another option off the top of my head is to use one of your starters sufficient for a 5 gallon batch and make a 5 gallon batch of beer, then use the cake for a 45 gallon batch for a 9 fold increase in propagation and probably a decent pitch rate.

45 gallons is a lot of beer!

5 gallons of just boiled DME @ 1.04? Than transfer and dry hop so I can use the cake?


Dirty B.

 

[morticaixavier]

5 gallons of just boiled DME @ 1.04? Than transfer and dry hop so I can use the cake?


Dirty B.

no just make 5 gallons of good tasty beer you can enjoy while waiting for the 45 gallon batch to finish.

make a normal 1.040 starter of 1-2 liters pitch that into say, an ordinary bitter or table saison (1.040-1.050) then pitch the entire cake into your 1.5 bbl batch of 1.050-1.060 beer.

when that batch is done pull off ~ quart of thick yeast and pitch that into the next batch.

Pros generally go 5-10 generations before starting a new pitch. some many more.

 

[pdxal]

no just make 5 gallons of good tasty beer you can enjoy while waiting for the 45 gallon batch to finish.

make a normal 1.040 starter of 1-2 liters pitch that into say, an ordinary bitter or table saison (1.040-1.050) then pitch the entire cake into your 1.5 bbl batch of 1.050-1.060 beer.

when that batch is done pull off ~ quart of thick yeast and pitch that into the next batch.

Pros generally go 5-10 generations before starting a new pitch. some many more.

Starters should be 1.030-1.040.
Not saying a 1.040-1.050 starter couldn't be used and work, but that wouldn't be optimally healthy yeast. Why screw up 45 gallons of beer with a less than perfect starter?
A 5 gallon starter would be around the right volume for a 45 gallon batch, so you could make a 'table beer' that tastes good with that gravity, rack it and use the whole cake for the 45 gallon batch. After you rack the 5 gallons off the cake you could secondary any way you like, like with dry hops, fruit, additional malt extract or sugar.

 

[morticaixavier]

Starters should be 1.030-1.040.
Not saying a 1.040-1.050 starter couldn't be used and work, but that wouldn't be optimally healthy yeast. Why screw up 45 gallons of beer with a less than perfect starter?
A 5 gallon starter would be around the right volume for a 45 gallon batch, so you could make a 'table beer' that tastes good with that gravity, rack it and use the whole cake for the 45 gallon batch. After you rack the 5 gallons off the cake you could secondary any way you like, like with dry hops, fruit, additional malt extract or sugar.

And yet, pro brewers pitch from IPA to IPA in the 1.060 range all the time. sure 1.030 is good but 1.004 is actually ideal as long as you can continuously feed. That's what the yeast labs do. If you are going to end up with 2 liters of nasty that you pour out then aim for 1.030. and heck, if you've got a 1.030 recipe that you love do that. I'm just saying it's okay to brew a 5 gallon batch of beer in the 1.040-1.050 range as a starter for a 1.5 bbl batch.

 

[pdxal]

So, the OP is a pro brewer or a yeast lab?
-Just saying that what works for professional brewers doesn't necessarily work for home brewers. Pitching optimally viable yeast from batch to batch at the bottom of a cylindroconical fermentor is different from what home brewers do.
There are some great milds in the 1.030-1.040 range. Also, I routinely make good table beers out of my starters.

 

[morticaixavier]

So, the OP is a pro brewer or a yeast lab?
-Just saying that what works for professional brewers doesn't necessarily work for home brewers. Pitching optimally viable yeast from batch to batch at the bottom of a cylindroconical fermentor is different from what home brewers do.
There are some great milds in the 1.030-1.040 range. Also, I routinely make good table beers out of my starters.

no but that is optimal for growing yeast. is it a balanced solution for homebrewers? perhaps not. But repitching from a 1.050 beer is not going to make a noticable difference compared to repitching from a 1.040 beer. My entire point was that you don't need to get totally locked into the idea that if you intend to reuse the yeast it HAS to be between 1.030 and 1.040. that is already a compromise from optimal. I brew plenty of beers in the 1.030-1.040 range and that's fine but if one wanted to grow up a bunch of yeast and also wanted to brew a 1.050 beer there is 0 reason not to do so. it will in no way endanger the 1.5 bbl batch the yeast is intended for.

and the conditions at the bottom of a big conical are much much WORSE for yeast than at the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket. So in fact, the yeast will likely be in much better shape than the yeast the pro brewer repitches.