Hefe Yeast Starter Question for Upcoming Brew

[Jiffster]

I'm brewing a Hefe this coming Saturday or Sunday.

I'm making a 1.5L starter for Wyeast 3068 for this 5 gallon batch. Stir plate.

I was planning to make my starter last night but forgot!

Normally I'll give it 2 days before chilling for several days to a week so I can cant the wort off the yeast?

Is 24 hours enough time?

How long will it take to separate the yeast from the wort so I can cant it?

 

[Morrey]

I'm brewing a Hefe this coming Saturday or Sunday.

I'm making a 1.5L starter for Wyeast 3068 for this 5 gallon batch. Stir plate.

I was planning to make my starter last night but forgot!

Normally I'll give it 2 days before chilling for several days to a week so I can cant the wort off the yeast?

Is 24 hours enough time?

How long will it take to separate the yeast from the wort so I can cant it?

Everyone has their own ways and methods, but I build a 1L starter from liquid yeasts and pitch the whole starter into my wort. I usually give it at least 24 hours with a deep vortex on the stir plate, maybe 36 if time allows.

I have chilled and decanted spent wort off the yeast before, but I usually do this if I am pitching a lager and want the wort and yeast both to be around the 50F's.

For a Hefe, I just take straight off the stir plate and pitch the whole flask. There are several ways to skin this cat, but a straight pitch is pretty darn simple.

 

[laredo7mm]

Yup, pretty much what Morrey just said. I go 24 to 36 hours on the stir plate. If I can catch it at high krausen, I will take it off the plate and put it in the fridge, or after 36 hours it goes in the fridge. I usually start my starter 2 days before brewday so they spend at least 12 hours in the fridge.

I have used 3068 3 or 4 times and I think the last time I just dumped everything in. Maybe decanted off a bit of the 1L starter, but 3068 doesn't like to flocculate so unless you have days to let it sit in the fridge you aren't going to be able to decant much beer off what yeast has settled anyway.

 

[jjeffers09]

http://howtobrew.com/book/section-1/yeast/preparing-yeast-and-yeast-starters

 

[Jiffster]

Good to know. I was concerned with the starter wort contributing to the flavor.

Sounds like a 1L starter is the way to go instead of 1.5 and pitch w/o canting after 24-36 hours.

Correct?

 

[specharka]

It's not much use to you now, but if you encounter this situation again, you can try a vitality starter in lieu of a traditional yeast starter. Just use 1-2L of first runnings, chill to pitch temp, pitch your yeast and put it on a stir plate. 4 hours on the plate is sufficient to restore the vitality of yeast cells for full fermentation.

 

[Morrey]

Good to know. I was concerned with the starter wort contributing to the flavor.

Sounds like a 1L starter is the way to go instead of 1.5 and pitch w/o canting after 24-36 hours.

Correct?

Again, your call, but 1L starter with 24-36 hours on the stir plate is pretty well adequate for a Hefe IMHO. If you wanted a really big starter this would not be adequate, but for a 5G Hefe, 1L and pitch the whole deal is my method. Again, each brewer has their own way, and I find the semi-spent wort to be fairly neutral making little or no difference in your final product.

Wyeast 3068 is a typical go to Hefe yeast, and by nature of that strain of yeast, take good advice from laredo7mm: Hefe is a cloudy wheat beer with low yeast flocculation. 3068 wants to stay in suspension...so why fight it?

If you ferment at the warm side of the spectrum, 3068 will have a strong(er) banana nose, while fermenting low like I last did at 62F, you'll downplay those banana esters. This is a balanced Hefe compared to banana bombs. I am doing a Hefe this weekend and will be using WLP300 for the first time since the exp date was right compared to 3068 at my LHBS.