nostalgia
Well-Known Member
I'm brewing a lager this weekend, so I'm starting to build up a big starter. Thought I'd share some pictures, since there are always lots of starter questions here.
MrMalty claims I'll need about 4 liters of starter, since I'm using a stirplate. So here's the plan: first make a starter like I normally do with 32oz (1 quart) of water and 4oz of dried malt extract. Pitch the yeast into that and let it ferment on the stirplate overnight.
Next make another 2 quarts of wort in the same way (with 8oz DME) and add that to the existing starter. Let it ferment overnight.
Repeat once more to make a total of 5 quarts of starter. I'll take one quart of that off and let it ferment out separately to be stored (instead of washing the yeast from my batch after it's done).
On to the pictures! First the mise en place.
DME, 5l Erlenmeyer flask, digital scale, spray bottle of Star-San, probe thermometer and already smacked smack-pack of yeast.
Weigh 4oz DME in the flask, add 32oz water, drop in the stir bar so it can get boiled and sanitized. Put it on a burner and boil for 10 minutes, being careful of boilovers. Since my thermometer's probe is good to 400+ degrees I boil it for the last 5 minutes to sanitize it.
After 10 minutes, I put a piece of tin foil over the neck (after spraying the foil with Star-San) and it's time to cool down. I know borosilicate glass is supposed to be able to go right into an ice bath, but I started it in lukewarm water so it doesn't shock it too badly. It's not going to make it cool noticeably slower as long as you change the water out frequently.
Once it cooled under 65F, I pulled out the thermometer, sanitized my scissors, hands and yeast packet, and pitched the yeast.
one more post for picture count...
MrMalty claims I'll need about 4 liters of starter, since I'm using a stirplate. So here's the plan: first make a starter like I normally do with 32oz (1 quart) of water and 4oz of dried malt extract. Pitch the yeast into that and let it ferment on the stirplate overnight.
Next make another 2 quarts of wort in the same way (with 8oz DME) and add that to the existing starter. Let it ferment overnight.
Repeat once more to make a total of 5 quarts of starter. I'll take one quart of that off and let it ferment out separately to be stored (instead of washing the yeast from my batch after it's done).
On to the pictures! First the mise en place.
DME, 5l Erlenmeyer flask, digital scale, spray bottle of Star-San, probe thermometer and already smacked smack-pack of yeast.
Weigh 4oz DME in the flask, add 32oz water, drop in the stir bar so it can get boiled and sanitized. Put it on a burner and boil for 10 minutes, being careful of boilovers. Since my thermometer's probe is good to 400+ degrees I boil it for the last 5 minutes to sanitize it.
After 10 minutes, I put a piece of tin foil over the neck (after spraying the foil with Star-San) and it's time to cool down. I know borosilicate glass is supposed to be able to go right into an ice bath, but I started it in lukewarm water so it doesn't shock it too badly. It's not going to make it cool noticeably slower as long as you change the water out frequently.
Once it cooled under 65F, I pulled out the thermometer, sanitized my scissors, hands and yeast packet, and pitched the yeast.
one more post for picture count...