first yeast starter question

[Sidman]

So I got my stir plate in the other day and plan on brewing in the afternoon tomorrow. I am making an 10 gallon AHS Belgian White recipe so I started a 1.9 L starter with White labs Belgian Wit ale and .5lbs of extra pale LME. I heated the mixture to boiling, cooled and pitched the yeast. I had the stir plate going all night and noticed this evening that I am getting foam out of the top of the flask - should have got the 5L instead of 2L.

So two questions - do I need to keep the stir plate going with all of the foam over issues? and do I pitch the whole starter or cool and pitch only the yeasties at the bottom?

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[Brew_Meister_General]

So I got my stir plate in the other day and plan on brewing in the afternoon tomorrow. I am making an 10 gallon AHS Belgian White recipe so I started a 1.9 L starter with White labs Belgian Wit ale and .5lbs of extra pale LME. I heated the mixture to boiling, cooled and pitched the yeast. I had the stir plate going all night and noticed this evening that I am getting foam out of the top of the flask - should have got the 5L instead of 2L.

So two questions - do I need to keep the stir plate going with all of the foam over issues? and do I pitch the whole starter or cool and pitch only the yeasties at the bottom?

Thanks in advance for any help.

RE-EDIT:

Oh for sure, one reason being the volcanic eruptions as described which are pretty standard, although mainly because it gives more surface area for the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide.

If you're making a 2l starter then a 3l flask is a minimum although a 5l is probably ideal. If its over-foaming, unless you can transfer it to a bigger vessel it'll probably be best to turn it off as with overflowing wort it'll be more likely to become infected, you want to keep it below the foil on top to protect it and with a bit of extra time the yeast will consume all the sugars anyway.

You just want to pitch the yeast at the bottom, its advocated by White Labs that a starter only takes 24 hours, but you'll want to prepare it an extra day in advance by letting it ferment for a day (i.e. 24-36 hours) and then cold crashing it overnight by placing it in the fridge or in my case, a cool box full of ice packs. You can keep it in there a few extra nights if you need to.

The next day you can then decant the starter by pouring off all the spent wort, letting it gradually warm up to room temperature and then when it comes to pitching, mix in some of the fresh wort, give it a shake and then pitch to the fermenter.

 

[Sidman]

Ok so it's been 24 hours. Ok to cold crash tonight and then decant and let warm in about 16 hrs?

 

[Brew_Meister_General]

Ok so it's been 24 hours. Ok to cold crash tonight and then decant and let warm in about 16 hrs?

Sounds perfect! 8 hours should be enough time for it to warm up, and you can always place it near-ish to a radiator to be safe. Just be sure to get rid of as much of the spent wort as possible as it will have a sour taste at this point, its impossible to get rid of all it but 50ml isn't going to make a different to your brew.

 

[Gavin C]

So I got my stir plate in the other day and plan on brewing in the afternoon tomorrow. I am making an 10 gallon AHS Belgian White recipe so I started a 1.9 L starter with White labs Belgian Wit ale and .5lbs of extra pale LME. I heated the mixture to boiling, cooled and pitched the yeast. I had the stir plate going all night and noticed this evening that I am getting foam out of the top of the flask - should have got the 5L instead of 2L.

So two questions - do I need to keep the stir plate going with all of the foam over issues? and do I pitch the whole starter or cool and pitch only the yeasties at the bottom?

Thanks in advance for any help.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=532452

 

[wdames]

When it subsides do s cold crash and decant as much of the wort as possible. Bring to room temp and pitch

 

[MaxStout]

So I got my stir plate in the other day and plan on brewing in the afternoon tomorrow. I am making an 10 gallon AHS Belgian White recipe so I started a 1.9 L starter with White labs Belgian Wit ale and .5lbs of extra pale LME. I heated the mixture to boiling, cooled and pitched the yeast. I had the stir plate going all night and noticed this evening that I am getting foam out of the top of the flask - should have got the 5L instead of 2L.

So two questions - do I need to keep the stir plate going with all of the foam over issues? and do I pitch the whole starter or cool and pitch only the yeasties at the bottom?

Thanks in advance for any help.

It's good to have both. There are times when you'll want to make smaller starters and the 2L is fine for that. But doing 10 gal batches and if you do lagers, you will be glad you spent the $$ on a 5L.

Of course, you can always make stepped starters in a smaller flask, but it's nice to have the right size and only need to make one step.

 

[Brew_Meister_General]

And when it comes to making the starter wort, I would advocate boiling it in a pan rather than the flask itself.

They may be thermal resistant but they're not immune, people have cracked theirs before by heating them on the stove and then placing them in a ice/water bath. Using a pan won't be any extra hassle (and theres less opportunity to drop the flask as well).