Priming & yeast starter questions

[barefoot_trashko]

I’m a first time homebrewer and I live in China. A couple of buddies and I were able to round up (with some difficulty) all the equipment we needed and found a supplier online who has all the grains. We currently have our first batch in our secondary fermenter and hope to bottle in 2 weeks. We harvested some yeast and I have 3, 400-500ml bottles in my fridge. Our only option was all grain as there is no HB shop down the street to go buy extract. I’ve been reading Palmer’s How to Brew and I’m a little confused about priming and yeast starters. He keeps talking about DME and I’m assuming that’s the kind that you buy in the store. All I’ve got is dry grain but not DME, right? If I haven’t gone through the mashing process it is not extract yet. Boiling crushed grain for a priming solution will do me no good, correct? Am I better off trying to use corn/cane sugar?

Then for the yeast starter, same question regarding DME. I’ve got the bottles I mentioned above sitting in my fridge. What am I supposed to do with them in order to be able to pitch them? Specifics about amounts would be appreciated here.

Thanks for helping a newbie out!

 

[TipsyDragon]

ok ill see if i can answer your questions. there are two forms of malt extract Dry Malt Extract (DME) and Liquid Malt Extract (LME) you can some times find the LME at the grocery store. if not i'm sure you can find an online site to order it from. in a pinch you can use corn/cane sugar for a starter but i wouldn't recommend it. yeast need more than just sugar alone to grow. they need yeast nutrients (again found online).

now if i understand you correctly you have 3 400ml bottles FULL of yeast? if so one bottle would be more than enough for a batch of beer. just warm it up and pour it in.

 

[barefoot_trashko]

ok ill see if i can answer your questions. there are two forms of malt extract Dry Malt Extract (DME) and Liquid Malt Extract (LME) you can some times find the LME at the grocery store. if not i'm sure you can find an online site to order it from. in a pinch you can use corn/cane sugar for a starter but i wouldn't recommend it. yeast need more than just sugar alone to grow. they need yeast nutrients (again found online).

now if i understand you correctly you have 3 400ml bottles FULL of yeast? if so one bottle would be more than enough for a batch of beer. just warm it up and pour it in.

Thanks for your reply. I think the title of my thread is confusing people. You're the second person who interpreted it this way (I posted the same question somewhere else) so let me try and clarify. I had this whole long thing originally written up and my browser crashed so I rewrote it in a hurry and obviously didn't do a good job.

My heading implies 2 separate questions. I have a question 1st about priming sugar. I have no DME and no LME. I simply have my grain and don't want to go through all the work to make wort just to make a priming solution. I'm hoping to find some cane/corn sugar as everyone seems to say that's a viable option.

2nd question is about a yeast starter. Same thing, no DME or LME. I harvested yeast from my 1st batch and washed it. That's called slurry, right? I have a 400ml bottle of that. Can I just set that out and pitch it at room temp?You say to warm it up. Are you saying above room temp? If so, how warm?

 

[TipsyDragon]

400ml of yeast should be good for a batch of beer without the need to make a starter.

when i say to warm it up i mean to room temperature. i assume you are keeping the bottles in a refrigerator to keep them cool before using them in a batch of beer. typically its recommended to take the yeast out of the fridge 3-6 hours before you pitch. this allows the yeast to warm up slowly and get used to the temperatures they will be working at.

if your curious as to how much yeast to use or how big of a starter go here.

 

[Kaz]

You may be able to pitch the slurry straight in, but making a yeast starter with it would be better. The yeast starter would insure that the yeast is alive, healthy and viable. A starter is usually made with LME or DME, other sugar sources can be used, but you'd be best to find a maltose based sugar and add some yeast nutrient with it. I'm not up on what is available in China, I know over here there are malt based beverages that you can buy in supermarkets that folks use for starters. Another option would be so save some extra wort from an all grain session and use it. HTH

 

[barefoot_trashko]

You may be able to pitch the slurry straight in, but making a yeast starter with it would be better. The yeast starter would insure that the yeast is alive, healthy and viable. A starter is usually made with LME or DME, other sugar sources can be used, but you'd be best to find a maltose based sugar and add some yeast nutrient with it. I'm not up on what is available in China, I know over here there are malt based beverages that you can buy in supermarkets that folks use for starters. Another option would be so save some extra wort from an all grain session and use it. HTH

Thanks Kaz. I was wondering about saving wort. How do I go about storing it?

 

[Kaz]

I have never stored it, so, someone else will have to chime in on that. You may be able to freeze some post-boil...I'm just not sure. I'd search for storing wort...I'm sure I've seen threads before.

 

[barefoot_trashko]

Awesome, thanks! What about making a small batch of wort from some leftover grain. If I used 2lbs would I just do all the same grain/water ratios? Might be a hassle, but good experience.