How essential is a starter

[Izzie1701]

I'm wondering if yeast starters are worth it on low gravity beers. Basically your starting your yeast in a small amount of low SG wort. If your beer is say a bitter with a starting OG of 1.040 what advantage does the starter really have as the starter og is going to be 1.040. I read it decreases the chance of infection as the yeast is already in fermentation mode. But when you start it in a starter wouldn't the starter still be at the same risk your beer wort would be at when it starts the fermentation. To me it almost sounds like there is more of a chance of infection as your sanitizing more items and your wort is coming in contact with more items that could possibly infect it. Is it the alpha acids stress the yeast? Just everything I read seems to contradict itself. Your still basically starting the yeast just in a smaller batch of beer. The only thing that makes sense is that yes the number of cell saturation would be greater in the starter then if you pitched right into your beer and then the number of cells while pitch into your beer would be greater but with a smack pack is it really advantageous. Or say if you harvest your own yeast where you have almost a liter of yeast slurry already.

 

[specharka]

I'm wondering if yeast starters are worth it on low gravity beers. Basically your starting your yeast in a small amount of low SG wort. If your beer is say a bitter with a starting OG of 1.040 what advantage does the starter really have as the starter og is going to be 1.040. I read it decreases the chance of infection as the yeast is already in fermentation mode. But when you start it in a starter wouldn't the starter still be at the same risk your beer wort would be at when it starts the fermentation. To me it almost sounds like there is more of a chance of infection as your sanitizing more items and your wort is coming in contact with more items that could possibly infect it. Is it the alpha acids stress the yeast? Just everything I read seems to contradict itself. Your still basically starting the yeast just in a smaller batch of beer. The only thing that makes sense is that yes the number of cell saturation would be greater in the starter then if you pitched right into your beer and then the number of cells while pitch into your beer would be greater but with a smack pack is it really advantageous. Or say if you harvest your own yeast where you have almost a liter of yeast slurry already.

To answer your question, no, yeast starters are not required for low gravity beers. However, if you are using liquid yeast, you will almost never be able to acquire fully viable yeast. Most analytical models I've seen forecast yeast viability depreciation on the magnitude of 10% each week, with proper storage. Additionally, there is evidence indicating that a better measure of yeast performance is vitality, not viability, which may be indexed by the number of cells in suspension during high krausen. Which would suggest that making a small starter 12-24 hours beforehand is extremely beneficial for complete fermentation. A Wyeast smack pack deliberately operates under this mechanism.

Tl;dr yeast starters should always be used for liquid yeast.

 

[stratslinger]

The only thing that makes sense is that yes the number of cell saturation would be greater in the starter then if you pitched right into your beer and then the number of cells while pitch into your beer would be greater but with a smack pack is it really advantageous.

It sounds like you're overthinking things here - so I've highlighted (quoted?) the only really relevant part of your initial post.

You make a starter to get a higher cell count. Full stop.

Ideal fermentations occur when you have a certain of concentration of yeast cells per volume of wort at a given specific gravity. Play around with the yeast pitch rate tools at MrMalty.com or yeastcalculator.com and you'll start to get a feel for this.

A starter is built the way it is for one reason and one reason only: to make more yeast cells. It's not to make beer. A lot of testing has gone into determining that 1.030 to 1.040 is a good SG for propagation of yeast, and constant aeration is also crucial (the constant aeration bit is the main reason that a starter doesn't produce beer - the resulting product should be oxidized nastiness). When the starter is done, either decant off most of the fluid and pitch the yeast, or pitch the whole thing - another (smaller) round of propagation should kick off if you sized things right and consume any residual aeration, preventing it from oxidizing your finished beer.

As for your concerns about additional infection vectors - you're right. There IS a slightly increased chance of infection due to all the additional "stuff" you're introducing, but we can mitigate that through good santitation practices. It's a risk most of us can live with, considering the benefits we can get.

 

[colemangis]

I use WhiteLabs pure pitch without a starter and everything usually turns out fine. Just take it out of the fridge 3 hours or so before pitching and shake it up a bit. Creating a starter is best though.

 

[wilserbrewer]

Collect and save enough yeast from the previous batch and pitch it in your next batch within 2-3 weeks...bye bye starters and free yeast win win!

 

[user 141939]

Most analytical models I've seen forecast yeast viability depreciation on the magnitude of 10% each week

So after 6 weeks you've lost 50% of your viability? This does not seem to agree with any calculator I have used. I can see it for my own harvest yeast but from a snack pack or vial?

 

[Izzie1701]

Collect and save enough yeast from the previous batch and pitch it in your next batch within 2-3 weeks...bye bye starters and free yeast win win!

Just collected my first batch yesterday. I thought with this you were supposed to start a start with still though. Everything I read and watched said to make one. It's in the fridge so I would guess all the yeast would go pretty dormant just over night.

 

[user 141939]

Just collected my first batch yesterday. I thought with this you were supposed to start a start with still though. Everything I read and watched said to make one. It's in the fridge so I would guess all the yeast would go pretty dormant just over night.

Probably depends on how much slurry you have and how old it is. If it's a couple weeks probably good to pitch but if it's a couple months than better to make a starter.

 

[Happywanderer]

Brulosopher has done some amazing exbeeriments on this subject...

Read if you feel like...

http://brulosophy.com/2015/04/20/yeast-pitch-rate-single-vial-vs-yeast-starter-exbeeriment-results/

http://brulosophy.com/2015/06/29/ye...e-cell-count-vs-vitality-exbeeriment-results/