syd138
Well-Known Member
This is what I read from the wiki on making a starter:
Boil
Bring one pint of water to a boil in a two quart saucepan on the stove top.
Reduce the heat, add one half cup of Dry Malt Extract (DME) to the water, and mix it thoroughly. Gently boil the wort for ten minutes.
Cool
Remove the saucepan from the stove top, and cool it to room temperature, ~75ºF (~24ºC). Put the cool wort into an approximately half gallon (~2L) container. Cover and aerate thoroughly.
Pitch Yeast
Pour the contents of the yeast vial or smack pack into the container. Shake to mix the yeast into the wort. Cover the container with a piece of foil or a loose-fitting cap.
Wait
There will be very little sign of activity, but the starter should be ready in one to three days. You may step up the starter by adding additional wort over a period of days.
Questions:
- What kind of DME should I use? For something like WLP300, should I use Wheat DME?
- What kind of container can I use? I have a 1/2 gallon reusable plastic water bottle.. will this work? Can I screw the cap on, or do I need to put tin foil over it? How tightly to you put the tin foil on?
- I take it that this should sit out at room temperature away from sunlight? When are you supposed to put it in the fridge? Can you keep it at room temp as long as you want, or do you need to put it in the fridge after 3 days?
I've never made a starter before because I am afraid of contamination, but since many of my past beers have been slow to ferment, I need to start doing this.
Thanks for the help.
Boil
Bring one pint of water to a boil in a two quart saucepan on the stove top.
Reduce the heat, add one half cup of Dry Malt Extract (DME) to the water, and mix it thoroughly. Gently boil the wort for ten minutes.
Cool
Remove the saucepan from the stove top, and cool it to room temperature, ~75ºF (~24ºC). Put the cool wort into an approximately half gallon (~2L) container. Cover and aerate thoroughly.
Pitch Yeast
Pour the contents of the yeast vial or smack pack into the container. Shake to mix the yeast into the wort. Cover the container with a piece of foil or a loose-fitting cap.
Wait
There will be very little sign of activity, but the starter should be ready in one to three days. You may step up the starter by adding additional wort over a period of days.
Questions:
- What kind of DME should I use? For something like WLP300, should I use Wheat DME?
- What kind of container can I use? I have a 1/2 gallon reusable plastic water bottle.. will this work? Can I screw the cap on, or do I need to put tin foil over it? How tightly to you put the tin foil on?
- I take it that this should sit out at room temperature away from sunlight? When are you supposed to put it in the fridge? Can you keep it at room temp as long as you want, or do you need to put it in the fridge after 3 days?
I've never made a starter before because I am afraid of contamination, but since many of my past beers have been slow to ferment, I need to start doing this.
Thanks for the help.