Preparation of White Labs Yeast

[huesmann]

What's the proper procedure for putting together a must using White Labs yeast? I bought a tube of Sweet Mead/Wine yeast I'd like to use. I'm keeping it in the fridge for now. How do I get it ready for pitching--just take it out of the fridge and let it come up to room temp?

 

[ffire5]

That is all I did for my first one and it turned out fine. You can make a starter if you want. I typically do for my liquid yeasts. Depending on how rich your must is, you may need to dilute it but since you are making a sweet mead i'm assuming you are making an average must.
There is no set rule. The starter will just decrease lag time and proove your vail is alive.

 

[biochemedic]

Starters are definitely recommended to increase your cell counts and improve pitch rate. I'll never say you can't make mead just pitching a tube directly, but making a starter will get you a quicker start and faster ferment, and less off flavors from stressed fermentation (read: your mead will be drinkable faster if you manage fermentation well...) If you do just pitch the tube, just warm it up to room temp, make sure it's shaken up good to break up clumps (but let it rest for a few min afterwards otherwise it can kind of foam up when you open it...), then pitch it in once your must is at pitching temperature.

 

[huesmann]

How does one make a starter from a tube yeast?

 

[TheBrewingMedic]

as per the white labs web site:

Make up a 1-2 pint of must, gravity ~1.040. Boil for 30 minutes, cool to room temperature. Pitch one vial, shake well and let sit for 1-2 days. Little to no activity will be seen in the starter, since this is a very small volume compared to the quantity of yeast pitched. The yeast in a starter may be done within a couple of hours. But a layer of yeast should be at the bottom after 1-2 days. The must on top of the yeast can be either decanted off the top, or left in and pitched with the whole volume. Most pitch the whole volume, but if the starter gets to the point of 2 liters for 5 gallons, then we recommend decanting the must off the yeast.

Typical Starter Volumes for 5 gallons:
To activate the yeast: 1 pint