Liquid Yeast Starter Necessary?

[mrgrimm101]

So I've brewed primarily using rehydrated dry yeast so far. I want to brew a Burton IPA and I see that Wyeast 1203-PC is specifically for this style. I don't have a way to create a starter currently. How effective is it to just pitch the liquid yeast from the tube without creating a starter? Does anyone regularly do this?

 

[mdbrewer1]

So I've brewed primarily using rehydrated dry yeast so far. I want to brew a Burton IPA and I see that Wyeast 1203-PC is specifically for this style. I don't have a way to create a starter currently. How effective is it to just pitch the liquid yeast from the tube without creating a starter? Does anyone regularly do this?

You might have everything you need. All I use is the yeast, DME, and a glass pitcher.

Boil 1 qt. water with 1/2 c. DME
Cool
Add mixture to sanitized pitcher
Add yeast
Cover with sanitized foil
Shake the starter every time I walk by
~2 days later. Boom. Starter.
Stick in fridge
Decant
Pitch


Beer!

 

[mrgrimm101]

I assumed i needed a flask and a hot plate thing. I dont have a glass pitcher or anything to put it in.

When you say to put in fridge then decant, what are you referring to? What temp am i trying to get it down to?

 

[atoughram]

How effective is it to just pitch the liquid yeast from the tube without creating a starter?

I did it successfully for years.

White Labs markets their tubes as pitchable into 5 gallons of beer

What is meant by pitchable quantities?
At White Labs we package our yeast with a concentrated cell count which does not require any additional propagation time. Therefore, our vials can be directly pitched into a five-gallon batch of wort, giving you approximately a 5-15 hour lag time. Our barrel (BBL) system designed for the professional brewers also has the appropriate cell count for their specified sizes.

http://www.whitelabs.com/faq/beer-amateur

I started making starters so I didnt have to buy a 2nd tube.

 

[mrgrimm101]

Why did you need a 2nd tube? Just for bigger batches or bigger beers?

 

[atoughram]

I dont have a glass pitcher or anything to put it in.

A Growler would work

 

[atoughram]

Why did you need a 2nd tube? Just for bigger batches or bigger beers?

11 Gallon batches

 

[mdbrewer1]

I assumed i needed a flask and a hot plate thing. I dont have a glass pitcher or anything to put it in.

When you say to put in fridge then decant, what are you referring to? What temp am i trying to get it down to?

Any glass vessel would work. Someone below suggested a growler, which I've seen used before. A vase, perhaps?

I put it in the fridge for a couple hours to drop out any remaining yeast. I'm not trying to get it to any particular temperature. When I'm ready to pitch I take it out, let it warm to about 65 or so, pour off most of the liquid (decant), swirl the remaining liquid to get the yeast in suspension, and then pitch. I know other people pitch the entire starter. I doubt you can go wrong either way unless you're talking about very large starters.

 

[mrgrimm101]

Ooh i do have a 32 oz howler i could use. I might just pitch from the tube if that works. Im only doing 5 gallon batches currently.

 

[Darwin18]

You don't need to make a starter with liquid yeast but you probably should consider it. If you have a growler and some DME it's pretty fast and easy.

You can read up on your own about starters here:

http://www.mrmalty.com/starter_faq.php

 

[electrolight]

Unless you are making a hefe. Then sometimes you get better "hefe-y" flavours from not having a starter.

 

[mrgrimm101]

Awesome thanks guys.

So by "decanting" its just pouring out the water from the starter and then only pitching the yeast that has dropped out of suspension?

 

[mdbrewer1]

Awesome thanks guys.

So by "decanting" its just pouring out the water from the starter and then only pitching the yeast that has dropped out of suspension?

Essentially, but it's not water at that point, it's beer!

I slowly pour about 75% of the beer off, then swirl around the remaining 25% to rouse the yeast back into solution, and pour it in.

 

[Jupapabear]

Hey OP, lets start with your OG. The specific gravity of a recipe determines the amount of yeast needed for a proper pitch rate of yeast.

 

[Jupapabear]

For recipes with an OG of 1.055 or less I have only ever used the single vial without a starter. For larger batches you SHOULD use a starter or another vial to have enough yeast for a clean fermentation. Though, it should be noted that you can still achieve a good beer with one vial while risking stressing your yeast and possibly creating off flavors as a result.

On top of that, the date on your vial is crucial to know the actual number of viable yeast cells. If it is expired, you can well assume you will need more. I would check with references like Mr. Malty or any other 'yeast pitch rate' calculator that you can find with a quick Google search. Which you choose to use is your preference. I personally use BeerSmith as my goto for brewing software/calculators and design.

 

[mrgrimm101]

For recipes with an OG of 1.055 or less I have only ever used the single vial without a starter. For larger batches you SHOULD use a starter or another vial to have enough yeast for a clean fermentation. Though, it should be noted that you can still achieve a good beer with one vial while risking stressing your yeast and possibly creating off flavors as a result.

On top of that, the date on your vial is crucial to know the actual number of viable yeast cells. If it is expired, you can well assume you will need more. I would check with references like Mr. Malty or any other 'yeast pitch rate' calculator that you can find with a quick Google search. Which you choose to use is your preference. I personally use BeerSmith as my goto for brewing software/calculators and design.

That makes a lot of sense..thank you. I have Beersmith so I will try messing around with the yeast starter tool.

 

[Jupapabear]

You are welcome good sir. If you have any questions feel free to post them.

 

[mfgann]

I did a white labs vial for the hefe I'm drinking tonight and it was pitched with no starter. Took off after a day with a nice steady bubbling.

This weekend I started a dunkelweizen and used the wyeast smack pack. It took off like a rocket and had to switch to a blowoff tube.

I believe the freshness of the liquid yeast is very important, and the weather being cold kept them safe on the trip to my doorstep.

If the weather were warm out or they had been older than a few months I might would have gone to the effort of trying to do a starter.

Good luck

 

[Darwin18]

A smack pack is not a starter. It's just a fancy way to proof your yeast.

 

[mfgann]

A smack pack is not a starter. It's just a fancy way to proof your yeast.

I didn't mean to imply that it was, just that the Wyeast smack pack seemed to take off much more quickly than the White Labs. And that both seemed to be working great, which I attribute to them being very fresh, and the beer I was brewing being a normal gravity.

What I was trying to say is that if your packet is fresh, and hasn't been heat-stressed, and your beer isn't a high gravity, you're probably just fine. If any one of those things isn't true, it is probably time to think about a starter.

 

[bragona71]

so what we have learned today is there are lots of different opinions, but we can all agree that if your brewing a beer with a gravity over 1.055 you should make a starter or pitch two viles. two viles can get expensive over time so that's why people make a starter and or harvest yeast for future batches.

 

[mrgrimm101]

Ha thanks for summarizing. This is all great information, thanks everyone.

 

[mrgrimm101]

Ok so I've been looking into creating starters, but I'm not getting how to decide how much wort to prepare. I bought a 1000ml Erlenmeyer flask, but now I fear that it will be too small to be effective.

For example, I'm looking at a Scotch Ale recipe I put into Beersmith. It has an OG of 1.081 and if I'm figuring the yeast starter right, it says a 4qt starter with 2 packs of yeast.

I also have an IPA with an OG of 1.066 and it says a 3qt starter.

Does this seem right?

 

[electrolight]

Sounds right. I think many people use 1 gallon jugs for that reason.