In this hobby it doesn't take long to learn the importance of yeast starters for a healthy and vigorous fermentation, and after making several starters & pouring the fermented DME down the drain I have come to the conclusion that this is a waste. I am constantly looking for an excuse to brew up a batch, and who doesn't like a bit more variety in their pipeline? In this article I will address how you can make that starter while also finding an excuse to brew more, increasing the diversity of your pipeline, as well as your chance to experiment and reduce the amount of beer you are pouring down the drain.
I don't know about you, but I don't like to buy DME solely for the purpose of making starters and then pouring it down the drain once it has served it's purpose. After spending some time thinking about this issue, it dawned on me. Why not just make a small batch of beer to bottle and consume instead?
What You will Need
I picked up the carboys, stopper, and airlock for less that $20 at my LHBS.
Okay so before we get started, and I have already touched on some of this, here are some rules and caveats.
On http://www.yeastcalculator.com/ I put in that I am doing a 1 gallon starter with my method of aeration as none since I am actually making a small batch I don't want to use a stir plate or intermittent shaking since I do not wish to oxidize my beer. According to the calculator my "starter beer" will yield me 177 billion new cells for a total of 273 billion cells to pitch into my main batch plenty for a 5 gallon batch with an OG of almost 1.080.
Since you will be brewing a full beer for your starter you will have a decent amount of trub which may make figuring out a cell count based on volume a bit difficult. If you choose to try for an estimate of your cell count prior to re-pitching you may wish to go to http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html and use the re-pitching from slurry tab to figure out how many ml of slurry you want to pitch.
Alternatively you can use the calculator to figure out how much yeast to pitch into your "starter beer" to end up with the cell count you want for your main batch.
Example
If your main 5 gallon batch had an estimated OG of 1.050 which would require a pitch rate of 175 billion cells, using http://www.yeastcalculator.com/ you can figure out that you can pitch half of your yeast, or 50 billion cells into your 1.040 "starter beer" to end up with an estimated 187 billion cells at the end of fermentation plenty for your main batch, plus you still have half of your original yeast to make a new "starter beer".
Procedure
About a week before your main batch choose a low gravity recipe (1.030-1.040 OG) in the same realm of what you are brewing as your regular batch, for example if your main batch is an IPA maybe make a simple Pale Ale for your "starter beer". You already know how to brew a batch so I don't need to go into details on that, extract batches will be easier but I find stove top all grain BIAB pretty easy so my "starter beers" are going to be all grain.
Make a 1 gallon batch of your chosen recipe, pitch your calculated amount of yeast, and leave it to ferment, remember you will drink this so you will want to control your fermentation temperature if possible.
*Tip* Fermcap-S is your friend
Like most homebrewers I do not use a secondary for my beer normally, however I will be using one for my "starter beers" for faster access to my yeast. Once primary fermentation has subsided in your small batch cold crash it for 24-48 hours in your fridge just like a normal starer. On the brew day for your main batch you can rack the beer to the other 1 gallon carboy to finish up, once it is off your yeast feel free to try some crazy experiments in secondary with your small batch.
After racking your beer off of the trub in the bottom of the carboy you are left with enough slurry to swirl around and pitch into your main batch just like any other starter.
Making small batch starter is a great way to experiment with ingredients, increase the diversity of your pipeline if only marginally, and most importantly to brew more beer!
I don't know about you, but I don't like to buy DME solely for the purpose of making starters and then pouring it down the drain once it has served it's purpose. After spending some time thinking about this issue, it dawned on me. Why not just make a small batch of beer to bottle and consume instead?
What You will Need
- 2- 1 gallon glass carboys... 1 for primary and 1 for secondary
- 1- airlock and stopper for the carboys
- You can use your normal siphoning equipment, but what the heck I sprung for the mini-auto siphon.
- Ingredients for a 1- gallon batch of your choice between 1.030 and 1.040 OG
- (Remember you want to stay in the realm of what your large batch is going to be to avoid crossover flavors, or colors)
- 1- Liquid yeast culture of your choice
I picked up the carboys, stopper, and airlock for less that $20 at my LHBS.
Okay so before we get started, and I have already touched on some of this, here are some rules and caveats.
- You want to keep your "starter beer" close to the same style as the main batch you plan to brew. You probably don't want to brew a starter stout to pitch the cake on an IPA for example. I also wouldn't recommend getting too crazy with the experiments in primary for your "starter beer" for the same reasons. ( That doesn't mean you can't experiment in secondary)
- Your "starter beer" should be in the 1.030- 1.040 range to assure you will have healthy yeast to carry out the main event.
- Avoid simple sugars in the "starter beer" simple sugars such as sucrose can make the yeast lazy and make it harder for them to ferment the more complex sugars of your main batch.
- Make sure to give yourself plenty of time for primary fermentation of your "starter beer" a week or so should be fine... We will rack to a secondary to get access to our yeast.
On http://www.yeastcalculator.com/ I put in that I am doing a 1 gallon starter with my method of aeration as none since I am actually making a small batch I don't want to use a stir plate or intermittent shaking since I do not wish to oxidize my beer. According to the calculator my "starter beer" will yield me 177 billion new cells for a total of 273 billion cells to pitch into my main batch plenty for a 5 gallon batch with an OG of almost 1.080.
Since you will be brewing a full beer for your starter you will have a decent amount of trub which may make figuring out a cell count based on volume a bit difficult. If you choose to try for an estimate of your cell count prior to re-pitching you may wish to go to http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html and use the re-pitching from slurry tab to figure out how many ml of slurry you want to pitch.
Alternatively you can use the calculator to figure out how much yeast to pitch into your "starter beer" to end up with the cell count you want for your main batch.
Example
If your main 5 gallon batch had an estimated OG of 1.050 which would require a pitch rate of 175 billion cells, using http://www.yeastcalculator.com/ you can figure out that you can pitch half of your yeast, or 50 billion cells into your 1.040 "starter beer" to end up with an estimated 187 billion cells at the end of fermentation plenty for your main batch, plus you still have half of your original yeast to make a new "starter beer".
Procedure
About a week before your main batch choose a low gravity recipe (1.030-1.040 OG) in the same realm of what you are brewing as your regular batch, for example if your main batch is an IPA maybe make a simple Pale Ale for your "starter beer". You already know how to brew a batch so I don't need to go into details on that, extract batches will be easier but I find stove top all grain BIAB pretty easy so my "starter beers" are going to be all grain.
Make a 1 gallon batch of your chosen recipe, pitch your calculated amount of yeast, and leave it to ferment, remember you will drink this so you will want to control your fermentation temperature if possible.
*Tip* Fermcap-S is your friend
Like most homebrewers I do not use a secondary for my beer normally, however I will be using one for my "starter beers" for faster access to my yeast. Once primary fermentation has subsided in your small batch cold crash it for 24-48 hours in your fridge just like a normal starer. On the brew day for your main batch you can rack the beer to the other 1 gallon carboy to finish up, once it is off your yeast feel free to try some crazy experiments in secondary with your small batch.
After racking your beer off of the trub in the bottom of the carboy you are left with enough slurry to swirl around and pitch into your main batch just like any other starter.
Making small batch starter is a great way to experiment with ingredients, increase the diversity of your pipeline if only marginally, and most importantly to brew more beer!
