I was thinking...I don't have a stir plate yet and I keep having to make these pretty big starters. They're almost the size of a small batch, pretty much. What if I just made two gallon batches instead?
I'm going to be brewing nothing but Trappist beers for a while and I was thinking something along the lines of this scaled down version of Jamil's blonde:
Extract Blonde:
Batch Size: 2.00 gal
Boil Size: 2.29 gal
Estimated OG: 1.063 SG
Estimated Color: 5.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 28.9 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
2.00 lb Pilsener Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 69.0 %
0.25 lb Wheat Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 8.6 %
0.15 lb Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 5.2 %
1.00 oz Crystal [3.50%] (60 min) Hops 28.9 IBU
0.50 lb Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 17.2 %
Here's also an alternate faster version which swaps turbinado for the aromatic and white sugar. No steeping required. I have no idea how this would turn out since I've never used turbinado before, but it clocks in at the right SRM.
Batch Size: 2.00 gal
Boil Size: 2.29 gal
Estimated OG: 1.066 SG
Estimated Color: 5.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 28.2 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
2.25 lb Pilsener Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 75.0 %
0.25 lb Wheat Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 8.3 %
1.00 oz Crystal [3.50%] (60 min) Hops 28.2 IBU
0.50 lb Turbinado (10.0 SRM) Sugar 16.7 %
Anyways, after ten days I would bottle it. I would collect the remaining yeast and pour an appropriate amount of slurry into the next beer I had just brewed, a dubbel, tripel, or quad. I would wash and save the rest if there was some left over.
I know starters are generally 1.030 to encourage cell growth, but since I should be able to get plenty of yeast from a 2 gallon batch, I think it would be fine. I also know that it's generally better to harvest yeast from lower gravity batches, but I've reused yeast from a dubbel with no problems, and this beer is relatively low: any Trappist or abbey yeast worth it's salt should not be too stressed from a beer that's only 7% ABV tops, right?
I'm just sick of making one gallon sized starters and then pouring the starter beer down the drain. I'd gladly put just a tiny bit more time and money into making that beer into something drinkable and that I could experiment with.
I'm going to be brewing nothing but Trappist beers for a while and I was thinking something along the lines of this scaled down version of Jamil's blonde:
Extract Blonde:
Batch Size: 2.00 gal
Boil Size: 2.29 gal
Estimated OG: 1.063 SG
Estimated Color: 5.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 28.9 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
2.00 lb Pilsener Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 69.0 %
0.25 lb Wheat Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 8.6 %
0.15 lb Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 5.2 %
1.00 oz Crystal [3.50%] (60 min) Hops 28.9 IBU
0.50 lb Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 17.2 %
Here's also an alternate faster version which swaps turbinado for the aromatic and white sugar. No steeping required. I have no idea how this would turn out since I've never used turbinado before, but it clocks in at the right SRM.
Batch Size: 2.00 gal
Boil Size: 2.29 gal
Estimated OG: 1.066 SG
Estimated Color: 5.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 28.2 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
2.25 lb Pilsener Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 75.0 %
0.25 lb Wheat Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 8.3 %
1.00 oz Crystal [3.50%] (60 min) Hops 28.2 IBU
0.50 lb Turbinado (10.0 SRM) Sugar 16.7 %
Anyways, after ten days I would bottle it. I would collect the remaining yeast and pour an appropriate amount of slurry into the next beer I had just brewed, a dubbel, tripel, or quad. I would wash and save the rest if there was some left over.
I know starters are generally 1.030 to encourage cell growth, but since I should be able to get plenty of yeast from a 2 gallon batch, I think it would be fine. I also know that it's generally better to harvest yeast from lower gravity batches, but I've reused yeast from a dubbel with no problems, and this beer is relatively low: any Trappist or abbey yeast worth it's salt should not be too stressed from a beer that's only 7% ABV tops, right?
I'm just sick of making one gallon sized starters and then pouring the starter beer down the drain. I'd gladly put just a tiny bit more time and money into making that beer into something drinkable and that I could experiment with.