Help with starter from bottle harvested yeast

[porterluvr]

This week I harvested yeast from a six pack of Bell's Amber Ale. I am wanting to get a starter going and get it stepped up to pitch in an upcoming brew that should have an OG of about 1.098. I'm very new at this and looking for advice as to what size starter I should start with and at what increments I should step up. I have built a stir plate and plan on using it the first time with this starter. Thanks for all your help!!

 

[BGBC]

I've harvested yeast a couple times now (so no expert) and have only used it in small batches so far (~1.25 gal, 'normal' gravity). In the past I've done something like the following: 100 mL @ 1.020, 500 mL @ 1.020, 500 mL @1.040, crashing and decanting after the 2nd and 3rd steps. After that, I use mrmalty to estimate how many mL of yeast slurry I'll need and do another step if needed.

For a full batch at 1.098, you might want to try pitching the stepped-up starter into a smaller beer (2.5 gal batch?), then pitch your big beer on the cake, or part of the cake. At least you'll get some beer out of the deal instead of just dumping a big starter.

Either way, it will probably take a few weeks to get that stepped up sufficiently, so plan accordingly.

 

[porterluvr]

Thanks for your advice, I have started small and will be working my way up. I knew it was something that would take a little time so I wanted to start plenty in advance. Thanks again!