Can U make a 2 gal starter?

[The Govna]

so, i'm about to brew an Imperial Stout that has a whole lotta malt in it. I need a super high yeast count. Is it possible to make a 2 gallon starter?

What I was thinking was that I would take a portion of the DME the recipe calls for and use it to make a starter a week or so before I actually brew the rest of the wort. Then when I make the wort I'd just add my 3 gallon wort to my 2 gallon starter that has already been fermenting for a week. Any thoughts?

 

[Bokonon]

You can do that but you probably won't be really happy with the results since your starter will make up a large portion of your beer. So you'll have 2/5ths of boring beer without any hops and probably not the right color.

If you really want to make a big starter you should make a lower gravity batch of beer and then repitch the yeast from that.

or if you want to make that big of a starter. let it ferment out completely, chill it down to let the yeast drop out, and then decant most of the liquid leaving mostly just yeast behind

 

[Liquidicem]

I would agree. Brew a small beer first then repitch on the cake for your Imperial Stout.

 

[TheJadedDog]

No need to make a starter that size. I pitched a regular sized starter (1/4 gallon) for my Wee Heavy (1.080 OG) and it was just fine. I suppose if you're worried you could step it up to 1/2 gallon but I wouldn't go any bigger than that.

 

[The Govna]

Cool. Thanks guys!

 

[Foovanadil]

I would agree. Brew a small beer first then repitch on the cake for your Imperial Stout.

+1

I have a RIS going right now. I made a SNPA clone using WLP001 and then pitched my RIS ontop of the cake from the SNPA. All appears to be going swimmingly .