Liquid Yeast Starter

[kman540]

My first time using liquid yeast. I created a starter using White Labs WLP051 for an APA with an estimated o.g. of 1.070. I used 18 grams of dme with 1800ml of boiled wort and a teaspoon of nutrient. I made this on Wen. and since I'm waiting on my stirplate I just put it in a growler with an airlock. It is still bubbling intermittently. My question is it ok to pitch this today or should I let it ferment out and save in for the next batch? If I do pitch today should I decant some?
I have dry yeast as a backup.
Thanks

 

[hercher]

Absolutely yes -- you want to pitch your starter at high krausen.

FYI -- you can create starters with your dry yeast as well, to reduce your lagtime. Another thing you may want to consider is reusing your yeast. When you rack your fermented beer into secondary, simply rack some of the slurry from the bottom of the primary into a carefully sanitized container, along with a little bit of the beer, and seal it with an airlock. Keep it refrigerated, and it should be good for a week or two.

 

[kman540]

Thanks for the response. Should I decant a little, or just pour the whole starter? I do plan on getting some canning jars and washing the yeast. At 7.00 bucks a pop, I think it's a worthwhile investment. I have made starters before with Safale S-04 and I've rehydrated Danstar Nottingham. Those are the only yeasts I've used until today.

 

[hercher]

Depends on when you want to brew again. I only brew about once a month, so I don't save any yeast -- I just harvest from the previous batch. If you are brewing next week, you may want to decant some, and make fresh starter.

 

[kappajoe]

I like to use my starters within 18-24hour... any longer than that I will either put it in the refrigerator for a later date or step up the starter size.

I would like to use the starter at high krausen, but it never seems to work out that way for me... I almost always miss high krausen and pitch the starter right after.

 

[SavageSteve]

I used 18 grams of dme with 1800ml of boiled wort and a teaspoon of nutrient.

Just checking... is that a typo? 18 grams of DME is 1/10th of what you should have used, and a teaspoon of nutrient is much more than is needed.

Also, once you get your stir plate, you will definitely want to decant the beer off the yeast-- chill the starter to get the yeast to flocculate, then pour off as much liquid as you can.

-Steve

 

[Rick500]

Well worth listening to this podcast for a lot of good info on the subject:

http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/membersarchive/bs_starters12-22-08.mp3

 

[kman540]

No unfortunately that wasn't a typo, my math sucks. And thanks for bringing that to my attention. I think this time I'll use dry yeast. Lesson learned.

Just checking... is that a typo? 18 grams of DME is 1/10th of what you should have used, and a teaspoon of nutrient is much more than is needed.

Also, once you get your stir plate, you will definitely want to decant the beer off the yeast-- chill the starter to get the yeast to flocculate, then pour off as much liquid as you can.

-Steve

 

[kman540]

Since I shorted the DME by 1/10th, can I store it in the fridge and add the correct amount of DME next time or is it too late to revive?
Now I know why I posted this in the beginners forum and not the yeast forum.

 

[Rick500]

I don't think you did any harm to the yeast by not feeding them very well...

If you're not going to use it right away, put it in the fridge for a few days and let the yeast settle out, then when you're ready to make a starter again, take it out, decant most of the liquid, and make another starter with it using the right amount of DME.

 

[SavageSteve]

I don't think you did any harm to the yeast by not feeding them very well...

If you're not going to use it right away, put it in the fridge for a few days and let the yeast settle out, then when you're ready to make a starter again, take it out, decant most of the liquid, and make another starter with it using the right amount of DME.

Yep, that's exactly all you need to do. The yeast are still good, and you could actually pitch it into your batch, but it won't be much more better than just pitching without a starter. Keep 'em cool, feed 'em again when you're ready next time and you should be good to go.

-Steve

 

[kman540]

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate everyones support. This really is an amazing website. I was actually in the middle of brewing during this whole ordeal, but I had a friend keeping an eye on the kettle. I ended up using dry yeast and put the rest in the fridge. I guess the good news is every time I brew I learn something new. The bad news is I completely missed the ratio for DME to yeast, due to my impatience. Thanks to everyone here I didn't flush it.

 

[Rick500]

Clarification of my previous post: decant most of the liquid and discard it, then make another starter with the yeast sediment.