Can I use pilsner LME for a starter?

[ramloese]

Hi,

Can I use Pilsner Liquid malt extract for a starter that is ending up in a Pale Ale?

Will this not mess with the flavor profile at all?

 

[ramloese]

As a sidenote my beer is going to be around 9 EBC and the extract is around 15.

Will it be enough to decant?

 

[STMF]

Yes, it would be no problem at all. I don't think I would even decant the starter.

 

[ESBrewer]

Yes. I tend to use light colored extracts (mainly DME but you can use LME as well) for starters cause they have less taste and color so even if some extract ends up in the beer, it doesn't have much of an effect. And yet, I always decant my starters to minimize all the effects of starter extract.

 

[waldoar15]

No problem. I use the lightest extract I can find in my starters since I normally brew light colored lagers.

 

[jpakstis]

Yeah, I use pilsner DME for my starters and its been great!

 

[Lefou]

I typically use a wort sample for my liquid yeast starter by draining off a portion, cooling it, then use a hydrometer to check the gravity. If it's above 1.030, I dilute with filtered water then mix in the yeast.
While the rest of the wort boils, the yeast energizes. When I underpitch, I will use .5l of diluted wort and one packet of yeast.
When the wort is cooled and the starter has whitish foam visible, I will pour the yeast in and be on my way.

 

[homebrewer_99]

Odd, I decant about 75% of the liquid...then I sample it...

 

[ramloese]

I typically use a wort sample for my liquid yeast starter by draining off a portion, cooling it, then use a hydrometer to check the gravity. If it's above 1.030, I dilute with filtered water then mix in the yeast.
While the rest of the wort boils, the yeast energizes. When I underpitch, I will use .5l of diluted wort and one packet of yeast.
When the wort is cooled and the starter has whitish foam visible, I will pour the yeast in and be on my way.

So you are in effect making a starter for your starter? And why the 1.030 point?

 

[Lefou]

Why 1.030?
It's a diluted wort with less sugar.
Yeast will need a medium that has nutrients but doesn't quite overwhelm their ability to re-energize themselves to reproduce. A heavy wort is loaded with sugar and will stress the yeast. Weak yeast can re-hydrate themselves, then go after the sugars. In a liquid packet the yeast will reproduce at different rates. It's like Darwin's Law in a beaker.

Dry yeast can be re-hydrated with water or pitched "as is". An 11.5 gram packet will have more cells compared to a liquid packet, so you don't have to worry as much about under-pitching a weak yeast.

 

[ramloese]

Why 1.030?
It's a diluted wort with less sugar.
Yeast will need a medium that has nutrients but doesn't quite overwhelm their ability to re-energize themselves to reproduce. A heavy wort is loaded with sugar and will stress the yeast. Weak yeast can re-hydrate themselves, then go after the sugars. In a liquid packet the yeast will reproduce at different rates. It's like Darwin's Law in a beaker.

Dry yeast can be re-hydrated with water or pitched "as is". An 11.5 gram packet will have more cells compared to a liquid packet, so you don't have to worry as much about under-pitching a weak yeast.

So
1. Make a starter.
2. Take a bit out, measure with refractometer/hydrometer.
3. Aim for 1.030 - dilute with filtered water or add more LME.
4. Pitch yeast in tempered 1.030 starter.

?

 

[Lefou]

That's about it.

 

[ramloese]

That's about it.

Thanks for the tip! That's a really tangible process.

 

[brandonlovesbeer]

You can use whatever extract you want. As long as it’s maltose in the starter.

If it’s another sugar type (a simpler sugar) the yeast will get lazy.