First starter

[dkeller12]

I am making my first starter as I type this and I just took a gravity reading and I am a little high, 1.045. Should I dilute this down to under 1.040 or leave it be?


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[jwalker1140]

Depends on how anal you are. Kinda, sorta: dilute. Not so much: leave it be. I doubt you'll notice the difference in your beer either way. The fact that you are making a starter at all is the real difference maker.

 

[eadavis80]

I probably should take gravity readings of my starters to make sure they're close, but I just follow directions from NB which say to mix a 1/2 cup of light DME to 650 ML of water. I've done that for a few starters and it has worked out fine.

 

[dkeller12]

I ended up diluting it as after I cooled it the gravity was even higher at 1.052. I added some water and got it to 1.038. Thanks for the input.

 

[kombat]

I probably should take gravity readings of my starters to make sure they're close, but I just follow directions from NB which say to mix a 1/2 cup of light DME to 650 ML of water. I've done that for a few starters and it has worked out fine.

Agreed, same here. You'll get more accuracy measuring dry ingredients by weight rather than volume. I use 100g DME in 1 liter of water to get me to 1.040.

 

[eadavis80]

I don't have a scale, but was just told by N. Brewer in a live chat that for beers of 1.060 or less 1/2 cup DME to 650 ML water is fine. For beers 1.070 or higher, he suggested 2/3 cup of DME in 1L water. I don't make beers north of that, in terms of gravity so I'll just roll with that.

 

[kombat]

I don't have a scale

?

How do you weigh out your hops? How do you weigh out your specialty grain, or your priming sugar for bottle carbing?

Get yourself a little kitchen scale for $8 at Bed Bath and Beyond - they're really useful.

 

[brewprint]

I just use 2 ounces of DME per 500 ml of water. So I usually do a 1 liter starter so 4 ounces of DME per 1000 ml of water. I also put a bit more water in there because of the boil off.

I really don't think it's that critical for starters. I've never taken a gravity reading. My yeast always cranks on the stir plate. It starts faster or slower depending on the ambient temp in the room. Our house is in the low 60s this time of year.

Remember you can take a yeast strain that you like and double the size of the starter. So if you want to do a 500ml starter just do a 1 liter and when it's done pour half in a quart glass. Cut your yeast cost in half besides the 2oz of DME cost.

 

[eadavis80]

I just do extract recipe kits. Everything is already weighed and measured. I'm not doing my own recipes... yet.

 

[Yourrealdad]

Use this
http://www.yeastcalculator.com/

 

[brewprint]

I just do extract recipe kits. Everything is already weighed and measured. I'm not doing my own recipes... yet.

That's all I do is extract recipe kits...for the most part. I did my first recipe last weekend.

As far as yeast I've been using liquid yeast for some time. That's the only way to go imo. You can buy kits that have liquid yeast or no yeast. It saves money and you get a better variety. You don't have that option with brewers best or kits like that though.

 

[eadavis80]

I feel I've made good brews with both dry and liquid. I have harvested both tough, so that saves $ regardless. I usually get 4 mason jars worth of yeast out of one batch and then just make a starter for each time I use a mason jar's worth of yeast. So far, it's been working fine.

 

[brewprint]

I misunderstood what you were saying.