Hops in Yeast Starter?

[El Pistolero]

Here are a couple of excerpts from instructions for making a yeast starter:

Bring to a boil 1/3 cup of extra light DME, 2 cups of water, and 2 hop pellets.

Simmer 2 tablespoons of malt extract & a half dozen hop pellets in two cups of water.

So why the hop pellets in the yeast starter? Does anybody here do that? What purpose do they serve...to make your starter smell like beer? Or is this just a question of trying to sell more hop pellets.

 

[Toilet Rocker]

I've often wondered that myself. Nothing like breaking open a vacuum-sealed bag of pellets for nothing. I think you're onto something.

 

[user 574]

Seems ridiculous to me... hops don't have any role in the reduction of infection do they? Come to think of it, wasn't that why an IPA was hopped up though; to make the long journey to India? Hmmm....

BTW - no, I don't add hops.

 

[kneemoe]

Seems ridiculous to me... hops don't have any role in the reduction of infection do they? Come to think of it, wasn't that why an IPA was hopped up though; to make the long journey to India? Hmmm....

BTW - no, I don't add hops.

<HIJACK>

I thought that's why an IPA is typically stronger (ABV) than, say, an EPA, and the extra hops were a matter of trying to balance the taste? then again, i don't know either, which is why i'm posing the question
<HIJACK - sorry>

 

[DeRoux's Broux]

that is what the hops are for. help prevent contamination ofthe starter. but, i don't use them. sux paying $2.50 for an ounce of hops to use 2-3 pellets. i'll save 'em for the brew!

 

[SwAMi75]

<HIJACK>

I thought that's why an IPA is typically stronger (ABV) than, say, an EPA, and the extra hops were a matter of trying to balance the taste? then again, i don't know either, which is why i'm posing the question
<HIJACK - sorry>

Both, actually... to stabilize the beer, and to balance the flavor. At least that's what I've gathered.

I've never messed with them in a starter, for the reasons stated by others. I just sanitize my stuff.

 

[kneemoe]

just read this;

" "Keeping beer" was made to lay down in the cellar as a provision, to be drawn upon during the summer. The tradition ended when the development of refrigeration made it possible to continue brewing during the warmer months.
Because hops act as a natural preservative, they were used generously in "keeping beers". XXK has three times the hop content of its winter counterpart. It was probably intended to last seven months until the new brewing season began in October."

at http://www.beerhunter.com/documents/19133-000070.html

 

[Turricaine]

It is definately common knowledge that hops has antiseptic properties , some have even said it has medicinial properties. However, I dont know if there is any scientific data to that can prove these claims either way. It certainly IS possible to spoil a batch of beer though, but it has never happened to me.

 

[Steve973]

I concur with the talk about the "preservative" property. That's how/why IPAs were developed - the sheer amount of hops in the beer preserved it long enough to ship the beer from England to India when England was colonizing it. Then people became accustomed to the hoppiness and the style stuck, but it was functional before it was fashionable.

 

[Rhoobarb]

But, to get back to the heart of the matter - are they needed in a starter? I don't think they are.

If I'm doing a starter for, say, an APA, and it calls or a fair amount of Cascades and, if I happen to have some Cascades already opened, I may throw one or two into the starter.

Otherwise, I don't bother.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Hello brewing ancestors, I'm from the future and would like some real numbers on hopping a starter to preserve it for periodic use over the course of several brew sessions, likely over the span of several months. 2-3 pellets boiled for an indeterminant time seems like it wouldn't accomplish much.

In this far distant future we have glitter beer, niepa, electric cars are everywhere, the Chicago Cubs actually won a world series, and I hope you're sitting down, we have a reality tv ********* as president.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Okay listen up ancient ones, I used a futuristic technology called a "brewing calculator" to work up a starter recipe. I've read that only 20 IBUs can be an effective preservative but I went for double that, just to be safe. I chose a higher OG to take advantage of the preservative effect of ethanol concentrations over 5%. I'm using rakau hops because that's what I have and they are right around 10% AA. In this example I'm propagating Kveik yeast, a recently discovered strain that has been used for centuries in Norway. It works well at room temps and even up to 100f, seems to like being underpitched, and is easy to save for re-pitching either as slurry or even dried out on baking paper. I'll grow this up tomorrow morning to pitch the following evening, and will report back as I use the saved yeast. Spoiler alert: I'm also going to drink some of this.

Title: Hopped starter
Author: Meeeee

Brew Method: Extract
Style Name: Yeast starter, duh.
Boil Time: 15 min
Batch Size: 2
Boil Size: 2.2 liters
Boil Gravity: 1.048
Efficiency: 100% because it's extract

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.053
Final Gravity: 1.011
ABV (standard): 5.45%
IBU (tinseth): 40.46
SRM (morey): 3.26
Mash pH: 0

FERMENTABLES:
0.3 kg - Dry Malt Extract - Extra Light (100%)

HOPS:
6 g - Rakau, Type: Pellet, AA: 10.5, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 40.46

YEAST:
Omega Yeast Labs - Voss Kveik OYL-061
Starter: This is it
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (avg): 79%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Temp: 20 - 36.67 C

TARGET WATER PROFILE:
Not going to bother

Generated by Brewer's Friend - https://www.brewersfriend.com/
Date: 2019-02-02 05:24 UTC
Recipe Last Updated: 2019-02-02 05:24 UTC

 

[brownni5]

Chicago Cubs actually won a world series

That's not a future I want any part of...

Hops in my starters? Meh, once or twice, not regularly, never a problem.

 

[Soulshine2]

Here are a couple of excerpts from instructions for making a yeast starter:



So why the hop pellets in the yeast starter? Does anybody here do that? What purpose do they serve...to make your starter smell like beer? Or is this just a question of trying to sell more hop pellets.

look up the difference in yeast cell wall structure/health with water and adding it to wort vs just wort as a yeast starter .Yeast started in water then pitched to wort the walls had to adapt ,were more delicate and collapsed vs a wort made starter that ended up being stronger and therefore healthier. I'm wondering if the light hop addition works into the cell wall so that once it goes into the wort , there is no shock going into a slightly different solution...if the cells dont need to adapt , they can just go to work.
Just my own speculation.

 

[Soulshine2]

<HIJACK>

I thought that's why an IPA is typically stronger (ABV) than, say, an EPA, and the extra hops were a matter of trying to balance the taste? then again, i don't know either, which is why i'm posing the question
<HIJACK - sorry>

I just read this -
nope,wasnt about balance . IPAs were heavily hopped as an extra preservative measure since the beer was coming from India in some extreme conditions.