First Lager, Yeast Starter

[Robin0782]

So I'm brewing a lager today, a dunkel. Never done one before. I didn't really research the fact that lagers need more cells than ales... whoops. I'm using WLP833. I made a 3 qt. starter on Thursday. It seems I should have made it on Wed. maybe even Tue. I realize that I'm probably underpitching, but there's not much I can do at this point. I am mashing right now. My expected OG is 1.051.

I don't really want to pitch the whole starter, that's a lot of DME I don't want in my beer. But the yeast hasn't really settled out yet much. Still seems pretty active. I was thinking about cooling the starter down to 38 or so in hopes of getting it to settle so I can pour off the wort before pitching. Probably leave it until late tonight, get it out for a couple hours then pitch.

Any thoughts on this?

 

[Pappers_]

that sounds like a plan. If you have a homebrew store close, you could go and buy more yeast too

 

[Robin0782]

You are right I could. But, that is another $8 and a drive across town. Ugh. I was thinking I could ferment a little higher temp than I had originally planned to, so the yeast stays a bit more active. 55°F instead of 50°F. If it isn't quite as good as it could have been, so be it. I'm sure it will still be tasty.

Pitch tonight about 10pm at 68°F
Tomorrow morning drop the temp to 55°F
After 5 days raise the temp 1°F per day until I hit 65°F.
Lager at 40°F for about a month, maybe 6 weeks. Depends on how the brewing schedule goes and if I need beer to drink!

Next lager I will definitely be doing a multi step starter.

 

[glugglug]

I think your original plan is solid. I would not adjust the temperature. I think you’ll be fine.

 

[Robin0782]

Thanks glugglug, I ended up deciding to drop it all the way down to 50°F. I had krausen within 8 hours of pitching. I also decided to buy a stir plate! No more under-pitching.

 

[glugglug]

I’ll bet it’s chugging away now. The stir plate is a great addition to your brewery. Make sure you test it before your next brew day with some plain old water. I built mine, and initially the magnets on the motor were too far from the stir bar. I love to watch that thing go. Have to tear myself away sometimes. Also, you don’t need it going at full speed. Just enough to keep a good whirlpool going.

 

[Robin0782]

Good advice, I will definitely give it a try with just water. I just ordered a StirStarter so hopefully no issues. I won't need it for another month or so, so plenty of time to give it a whirl and make sure it works. I have no doubt I'll be sitting in my beer room just watching it go sometimes.