Im a little confused with yeast starters, and stir plates

[B_Lines]

I'm new to homebrewing and am about to brew my second batch. I have a Hefeweizen with liquid extract and the WLP300 yeast. I haven't read anything about making starters using a stir plate until today. I have done searchers but am still confused. What all do i need to do??? I have no problem making a stir plate (another reason to make more brew stuff right). So to i just Boil up some extract for a few minutes cool it pitch the yeast and let it spin for a day? Like i said I'm confused and would appreciate some guidance

 

[cullen]

You seem to have the basic idea down. Look up "Yeast Starters" in the HomeBrewTalk wiki.

 

[GodsStepBrother]

You basically want a low gravity wort that the yeast can have an orgy with and reproduce to make more healthier yeast. That way you have enough to get a good strong fermentation.

The stir plate forces the yeast to move around and mingle, but also allows air to be constantly introduced to the wort, allowing for oxygen to be absorbed by the yeast cell wall allowing them to procreate and have healthy cell walls thus leading to a less stressed out yeast.

 

[BBL_Brewer]

What the stir plate does is keep the starter mixing so that yeast stays in suspension and does not settle out. It also introduces the yeast to more oxygen so that you can grow more yeast cells with the same ammount of starter wort. And yes, all you have to do is make your starter wort, pitch the yeast and let it spin. Nothing to it.

 

[FightingBob]

This starter wort calc may help you:

http://brew.stderr.net/starter_wort_calc.html

The key is to keep it below 1.040 and above 1.030.

If you're measuring in cups 2 oz = 1/4 cup, 4 oz = 1/2 cup, etc...but as long as you're building a stir plate, you might as well get a scale. They sell them cheap at Target for diet measurements.

Personally, hand stirring has worked for me. I could get more growth with a stir plate, but my lag time is usually as short as three hours and no longer than eight. But maybe stir plate users could give you better advice. As with everything homebrew...it's up to your personal preference and what works best for you.

Welcome to the hobby!

 

[kh54s10]

Check out mrmalty.com in the yeast tools tab. This will give the size of starter you need. The easiest ratio is metric. 1 to 10 ratio: If you make a 1 liter starter use 100 grams of light DME. Boil for 15 minutes, cool and pitch the yeast. Use sanitized aluminum foil or a foam stopper instead of an airlock as a lot of older articles show. The yeast need oxygen to do their thing. Wyeast says 12-18 hours is enough time when using a stir plate.
If you have an old computer to scavenge making a stirplate is a neat project. Mine cost $4.75, I bought a rheostat and knob at Radioshack and some screws for mounting the fan.

 

[kh54s10]

This starter wort calc may help you:

http://brew.stderr.net/starter_wort_calc.html

The key is to keep it below 1.040 and above 1.030.

If you're measuring in cups 2 oz = 1/4 cup, 4 oz = 1/2 cup, etc...but as long as you're building a stir plate, you might as well get a scale. They sell them cheap at Target for diet measurements.

Personally, hand stirring has worked for me. I could get more growth with a stir plate, but my lag time is usually as short as three hours and no longer than eight. But maybe stir plate users could give you better advice. As with everything homebrew...it's up to your personal preference and what works best for you.

Welcome to the hobby!

Just looked at that calculator. ??? That may mean something to someone who made it for their own use but to me it is very confusing.... The last section "Amount of wort" appears to be in weight.. It should be volume... right??

 

[enohcs]

Check this video out. Making a yeast starter with a stir plate. Also use mr Maltys calculator to determine starter size

 

[Clementine]

Just looked at that calculator. ??? That may mean something to someone who made it for their own use but to me it is very confusing.... The last section "Amount of wort" appears to be in weight.. It should be volume... right??

Yeah the part you are looking at should say at the bottom liters of starter required, above that it will have listed the number of cells required then it will list vials or packs required without a starter, vials required with the starter suggested at the bottom.

The basic point is you put in the OG of what you think the recipe for your beer will generate (does not have to be 100% accurate but ball park) and the gallons of beer you will be making. Using the drop down menu you can select how you make your starters ie who do you aerate the starters, this affects the amount of yeast created by your starter. With this info the bottom two figures will tell you how many vials/smackpacks to add to how much wort to make your required number of yeast cells to get optimum fermentation for your beer.

If you are new to brewing you might just think that yeast does its job without help ie just chuck a packet of dry yeast in there. Actually you need to provide the right number of healthy yeast otherwise the yeast producing your beer will be too stressed to do a good job resulting in funky esters, fusel (headache producing) alcohols or leaving sugar in your beer (funky sweet taste). The point of these cals is to tell us how much yeast to pitch to get good beer.


Clem

 

[itsme6582]

Do you have a stir plate? Don't worry about the Cadillac for now. Boil a 1/2 cup of DME in 2 cups of water, cool, add mixture and yeast to a large mason jar or a 2 liter bottle, and cover with foil. Keep it on the counter and give it a shake every time you walk by. After a couple of days you can pitch the whole thing or put it in the fridge overnight and decant most of the liquid.

You should target 1.030-1.040 for your starters gravity not your beer's OG. The point is to have lots of lively yeast. If you pitch into a high gravity starter you will stress the yeast which is the exact thing you are trying to avoid with the starter in the first place.

 

[FightingBob]

Do you have a stir plate? Don't worry about the Cadillac for now. Boil a 1/2 cup of DME in 2 cups of water, cool, add mixture and yeast to a large mason jar or a 2 liter bottle, and cover with foil. Keep it on the counter and give it a shake every time you walk by. After a couple of days you can pitch the whole thing or put it in the fridge overnight and decant most of the liquid.

You should target 1.030-1.040 for your starters gravity not your beer's OG. The point is to have lots of lively yeast. If you pitch into a high gravity starter you will stress the yeast which is the exact thing you are trying to avoid with the starter in the first place.

I agree, don't overthink this. Itme's tips and the video posted by enohcs is the best place to start. Once you get your process down and learn what works best for your setup, a lot of your questions may be answered.