making a small batch instead of a starter

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rexbanner

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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.
 
How do you think the abbeys make their beer? They top crop their batches...

Sure, but it's not done fermenting then, correct? I've just heard that high alcohol can decrease the viability of yeast slurry. I think it should be fine though, right?
 
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