Large Starter

[BryceL]

Just a question on a large starter. I have been thinking about brewing a 5 gallon batch of an Octoberfest (OG 1.067) with WLP820. Being my first lager and first time trying a yeast starter, I could use a few pointers. According to Mr Malty, I will need 5.84 quarts. I do not have a stir plate. I was thinking of getting a small carboy to do the entire starter in, then cold crash it and decant the liquid off. My question is, can I just do the entire starter at once rather than stepping up? Also is there a certain ratio of DME to water for a given size batch of starter? Any tips for a first-timer are welcome. Thanks!

 

[Benthic]

This section of Mr. Malty's (Jamil Zainasheff's) page, will answer your questions. In short:
*No, you can't do the entire starter at once. You need to step up.
*If you prepare your starter wort using 1 gram of DME for every 10ml of water, you should wind up close to 1.040 which is where you want to be.

Brian

 

[BryceL]

Thanks for the link, very helpful!

 

[BryceL]

Is there anything wrong with, or any disadvantage to making two separate 2L starters with 1 vile in each as opposed to making one starter and stepping up to 4 or 5 liters? I figure this way I can use two 1 gallon glass growlers that I already have instead of buying one large container.