Do large yeast starters adversely affect taste?

[kansasbrew]

Reading various forum posts and other material, I see that a larger starter is beneficial for yeast activity/attenuation. But, some people seem to recommend crazy large starters. Here's my concern. The starter wort is only a poor approximation of the finely tuned wort you brew (it's mostly DME). If you pitch a few liters of that "inferior wort" as a starter, your beer could end up consisting of ten to twenty percent starter. Won't that start to adversely affect the flavor? I should clarify and limit this to 5 gallon batches for discussion sake.

So, at what amount would you be concerned? Is more than a liter of starter too much per 5 gallon? 2 liters? 3?

 

[dave5155]

I usually only pitch the starter wort if it's a liter and a half or less.If there is any more than that, I crash cool the starter and decant the liquid so that I only pitch the yeast.

 

[broadbill]

For large starters, the recommendation is to cold crash the starter, pour off liquid from the "inferior" starter and then pitch the settled yeast.

not sure why you say wort from DME is inferior, but that is a discussion for another thread.

Hope this helps.

 

[EoinMag]

not sure why you say wort from DME is inferior, but that is a discussion for another thread.

Hope this helps.

Inferior to the beer that you are about to innoculate definitely, in so far as it's DME, you have no idea what's in there unlike the recipe you've probably lovingly designed......

 

[mlyday]

Yep, cold crash, decant, and pour. Your only really getting a couple ounces of wort if you do it right. which is nothing if your pouring into 5 gallons of liquid.

 

[kansasbrew]

Thanks for the info. This was really helpful. It makes way more sense now.