Canning wort for starters?

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PasbitinusBluinusRibbinus

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So... I seriously hate making starters. It's hell. I hate the prep time, DME, sanitization, I'm just lazy as hell.

Has anyone made 1.040 wort and canned in the right quantities for making starters? Fridge or frozen, just warm up and pitch on to a stir plate? That would make my life (and beer) 1000% better.

Thanks!
 
I made a HUGE starter for my last beer. Ended up not fitting in the flask. Had to put 32 oz in a sterilized mason jar. 48 hours in the fridge caused it to almost explode. Better to just wash the yeast cake from previous batch or store in the proper containers in the future.
 
It has been done, and it works if all your starters are the same size. Often same size starters don't fit the planned brew because of the age/viability of the yeast and the different estimated OGs of the beer.

It only takes me a few minutes to make a starter wort. Pour the measured amount of water in the kettle. Let it boil a few minutes to sanitize the kettle. Take it off the heat and add DME, stir to dissolve. Let cool to yeast pitching temperature. Pour into container for going on the stir plate.

If I had canned wort there would always be the nagging worry that it is possible for an infection to occur, like there is with vegetables.
 
Ummm properly canned anything will outlive the person doing the canning in many cases. As long as the vacuum created at cooling remains, I see i reason to question the contents. I make them because I hate having opened bags of LME laying around.

Here you go OP, not mine copied from http://www.maltosefalcons.com/tech/starter-made-easy-pressure-cooking-your-starter-wort-ahead-time.

Drew's Pressure Cooker Starter Recipe:
Yields 1 Quart. (Half DME for pints)
3.2 ounces (by weight). DmeLight DME
1 pinch. NutrientYeast Nutrient
1 smallHop Pellet. (Optional)
Water to fill.
Weigh DME into jar and toss in the super food and hop pellet.
Fill with water until just ¾" below the top of the Mason jar. (Generally I go right to the line where the ring snugs into the jar)
Place a lid and ring onto the jar and hand-tighten until snug, but not overly tight.
Shake to mix.
Place with other jars into a pre-heated pressure cooker. Make sure jars are sitting on a canning rack or excess rings. Sitting the jars on the bottom may cause them to crack.
Close the lid onto the pressure cooker leaving the vent open.
Allow the cooker to steam out of the vent to purge air.
Close the vent and allow the cooker to rise to 15 p.s.i.
Maintain 15 p.s.i. for 15 minutes and allow to cool naturally.
Remove jars from the cooker and allow to cool thoroughly before us
 
Holy crap - I never even thought of actually prepping the starter in the jars inside the pressure cooker. I just got a pressure cooker and was planning to start canning some starter wort, but was planning to make up a big batch then can it. What watermelon described is so much simpler and smarter.
 
Ummm properly canned anything will outlive the person doing the canning in many cases. As long as the vacuum created at cooling remains, I see i reason to question the contents. I make them because I hate having opened bags of LME laying around.

Here you go OP, not mine copied from http://www.maltosefalcons.com/tech/starter-made-easy-pressure-cooking-your-starter-wort-ahead-time.

Drew's Pressure Cooker Starter Recipe:
Yields 1 Quart. (Half DME for pints)
3.2 ounces (by weight). DmeLight DME
1 pinch. NutrientYeast Nutrient
1 smallHop Pellet. (Optional)
Water to fill.
Weigh DME into jar and toss in the super food and hop pellet.
Fill with water until just ¾" below the top of the Mason jar. (Generally I go right to the line where the ring snugs into the jar)
Place a lid and ring onto the jar and hand-tighten until snug, but not overly tight.
Shake to mix.
Place with other jars into a pre-heated pressure cooker. Make sure jars are sitting on a canning rack or excess rings. Sitting the jars on the bottom may cause them to crack.
Close the lid onto the pressure cooker leaving the vent open.
Allow the cooker to steam out of the vent to purge air.
Close the vent and allow the cooker to rise to 15 p.s.i.
Maintain 15 p.s.i. for 15 minutes and allow to cool naturally.
Remove jars from the cooker and allow to cool thoroughly before us

Why the hop pellet?
 
I regularly can starter wort. I just did a batch the weekend before last. It makes throwing a starter together a 5 minute exercise. I do 12x quart jars and 12x pint jars at a time, which is 4 gallons of wort and that will last me for about 6 months worth of starters. As far as the size of the starters, it's not a big deal. I make my starters a little bigger than I need anyway and save the extra for next time. Since quarts are ~800 ml and pints are ~400 ml, my starters tend to be .8L, 1.2L, or 1.6L. If the yeast is old, the first step will be .4L, followed by a .8L or 1.2L 2nd step. Piece of cake. Also, the jars of wort are stored at room temp in the basement.
 
For my starter wort, I just take third runnings from my mash on brew day. I boil it for anywhere from 15-30 min, cool, and just put it in a plastic container with a lid in the fridge. It just sits in there until I need it.
The I boil for another 15 min or so, cool, and pitch the yeast for my starter.
It's a very relaxed way of doing it. Does anyone see a problem with my method? I figure if I am boiling it again before pitching, and sanitize my flask well, what's the worry?
I also cold crash and decant before pitching.
 
Fridge temps won't preclude nasties from growing in your wort and there is no guarantee that boiling alone (not under pressure) will be hot enough to kill everything, particularly the more toxic stuff. Freeze that wort instead, then boil it when you are ready to grow the starter. That would be much safer.
 
Awesome info here. Thanks.

I'm considering completely changing my procedure for how I manage yeast.

1) Make up yeast slants in the freezer that will maintain relatively constant viability for 6 months to a year.

2) Can ~.5l starter wort to fulfill my needs for that same 6mo to a year.

3) Two days before brew day, add slant to first step of starter, build to however large is necessary (in .5L increments)

4) Never deal with guessing viability from slurry, washing yest, or dealing with making starters from scratch ever again.

This seems like the absolute easiest and cheapest way to make consistent yeast. Can anyone see a flaw in this?
 
(Probably) dumb question about canning in a pressure cooker: I'll be using a Presto 23qt pressure cooker. If I wanted to use a combination of jar sizes (like a few 1qt and a few more 1pt), can I stack the jars inside the cooker, or is that unsafe?
 
I would think the steam needs to be able to escape the jars. Oh and let it cool down under pressure. Pushing the relief makes a mess in the pot, just trust me on that.
 
I can wort for starters, using a pressure cooker. I have a small pressure cooker and I'm able to fit 4 or 5 mason jars each with 300 mL of wort. These work perfect for starting my slants, then I step them up to a 1.5L starter a couple days later.

There are a couple stickies on the forum describing the steps, and the equipment needed, in great detail.
 
I've used the Maltose Falcon's method for canning wort, but now instead of dry extract I just do a small biab mash of 2-row, then can it.

Regarding the hop pellet: I used to put one in, now I don't, as I don't have a dark place to store jars, and with the hop pellets and ambient light in a clear class jar, it eventually skunks.
Regarding stacking jars: as long as you have a screen of some kind between layers, you can stack them in the canner. As was mentioned, they need to be able to release pressure as they heat.
 
I started canning some wort yesterday using the process above, however, I got side tracked and only got about half of the wort finished. I still have 8 jars that need done, but have been sitting out since yesterday afternoon, unrefrigerated. Are they still good or have they spoiled and should be thrown out?
 
I started canning some wort yesterday using the process above, however, I got side tracked and only got about half of the wort finished. I still have 8 jars that need done, but have been sitting out since yesterday afternoon, unrefrigerated. Are they still good or have they spoiled and should be thrown out?

They should be fine. I doubt they would have soured yet and if there are any bugs in there, the pressure canning process will take care of them. A few of my past canning sessions have stretched over two days and I've had no issues.
 
Whenever I brew a batch of AG I will do a second mash and sparge and save the wort for starters. I boil off if needed to hit the 1.040 mark and then can it up. It gives me something to do while my wort for my brew is boiling and makes starters as easy as opening a jar and pitching your yeast into a sanitized flask.
 
So... I seriously hate making starters. It's hell. I hate the prep time, DME, sanitization, I'm just lazy as hell.

Has anyone made 1.040 wort and canned in the right quantities for making starters? Fridge or frozen, just warm up and pitch on to a stir plate? That would make my life (and beer) 1000% better.

Thanks!

I have some LME in the freezer that's been there way too long. I'm going to can some pints of starter tomorrow after I get off work (working 1/2 a day). My project for New Years Day is building a stirplate.

It doesn't have to be refrigerated once you can it until you open the jars. (or if one doesn't seal, you need to refrigerate that one.) The sealed jars will last for a couple of years at room temp.
 
1/2 inch of headspace is the usual amount for canning fruit juice. 1/2 to 3/4 should be fine. I don't think it matters as long as you don't fill all the way to the top.
 
Ummm properly canned anything will outlive the person doing the canning in many cases. As long as the vacuum created at cooling remains, I see i reason to question the contents. I make them because I hate having opened bags of LME laying around.

Here you go OP, not mine copied from http://www.maltosefalcons.com/tech/starter-made-easy-pressure-cooking-your-starter-wort-ahead-time.

Drew's Pressure Cooker Starter Recipe:
Yields 1 Quart. (Half DME for pints)
3.2 ounces (by weight). DmeLight DME
1 pinch. NutrientYeast Nutrient
1 smallHop Pellet. (Optional)
Water to fill.
Weigh DME into jar and toss in the super food and hop pellet.
Fill with water until just ¾" below the top of the Mason jar. (Generally I go right to the line where the ring snugs into the jar)
Place a lid and ring onto the jar and hand-tighten until snug, but not overly tight.
Shake to mix.
Place with other jars into a pre-heated pressure cooker. Make sure jars are sitting on a canning rack or excess rings. Sitting the jars on the bottom may cause them to crack.
Close the lid onto the pressure cooker leaving the vent open.
Allow the cooker to steam out of the vent to purge air.
Close the vent and allow the cooker to rise to 15 p.s.i.
Maintain 15 p.s.i. for 15 minutes and allow to cool naturally.
Remove jars from the cooker and allow to cool thoroughly before us

I use this one all the time. I make 7 quarts at a time, and they have about 950ml of starter in them. If you need a bigger starter use more than one jar. They are ready when you need them. Just pour them into whatever you do your yeast starters in and add yeast.
 

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