need help with large starter

[Cappy11078]

Hi fellow brewers,
I will be brewing a big beer in the next few weeks. Its a Imperial IPA with an OG of 1.086. I used mrmalty to calculate the size of the starter I will need. It recommends a 2.25L starter. My problem is this: I only have a 1000ml and a 2000ml flask, and only one stir plate. I never made a starter this large before. How do you make your large starters? When I figure it out, would you recommend decanting the liquid yeast, or pitch the whole starter? I also thought about using 2 packs of dry yeast (which may be more manageable). Any opinions or suggestions will be helpful.

 

[bbrim]

Do two steps. Make one with your small flask, decant and make a bigger second starter. Piece of cake, your calculater should be able to handle the math so you know exactly how big to make each one.

 

[DoubleEh]

Jamil/Mr Malty recommends against pitching the entire starter if it's more than 5% of your batch volume. So I'd recommend decanting.


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[kh54s10]

This site will give you calculations for a stepped starter: http://www.brewersfriend.com/yeast-pitch-rate-and-starter-calculator/

I also recommend decanting any starter over a liter. I will decant all starters if I have time.

Another way to make a smaller starter is to make one with 2 vials/packs of yeast.

 

[Cappy11078]

Thanks for the replies. Stepping the yeast is what I thought I had to do. What are your opinions about dry yeast? I don't hear much about this type?


Without experimentation, there wouldn't be great beer!