Making AG starter wort

[guldalian]

Say I'm going to mash up some wort just for starters, or use the last runnings of a high grav beer , then freeze for later use. Should I boil it for a skotch before freezing, after freezing, or both?
I realize DME is way easier, and it's what I've been using, but I'm gonna start using slants and I could see the expense going up with all the DME needed for all those steps.


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[beersnblues]

I've done this several times. I only boil before freezing if i need to increase gravity. I always boil after thawing. DME=$$$ and i hate leaving good sugar behind in the MT. I would not skip the post thaw boil IMO.

 

[StoneHands]

My vote is before and after. I just about always save at least a liter of wort after I've boiled and chilled - essentially the dregs with all of my break material, etc, the last bit that I don't want to dump in the fermenter. I filter it through some paper towels into a freezer bag (after measuring the volume). Throw the freezer bag in the freezer until I need the wort. When I need the wort later, I thaw and dilute it as necessary, and boil it for 10 minutes or so before chilling and pitching.
I say boil twice because you'll need to boil after the mash to kill any nasties from the grain in the mash. Then boil again before actually using the wort (helps to speed up the thaw too).

 

[experimike]

I routinely add another gallon of sparge water to the mash bed after I have finished mash out. I will get somewhere between 1.012 and 1.030 unhopped and unboiled wort from this which I refrigerate (~38 *F). It keeps for a couple of weeks (assuming good sanitation practices). I will discard if longer than that. The only time I noticed funkiness was when this wort was pushing 8 weeks in storage.

I will boil before using for starters, and perhaps add some DME to get to 1.030 - 1.040.