Small batch and liquid yeast

[Calichusetts]

I've been using liquid yeast a lot more. Usually for style specific but I am planning on getting a stir plate and a starter setup going this summer. Still, I am brewing this Friday and wanted to use either San Diego Super or Nottingham.

Here is my issue with liquid at the moment, due to me brewing 1-2 gallon recipes, I have no need for starters since nearly every vial/pack has had more than enough for even my biggest beers.

Is this detrimental to my beer? People say their beer quality improved when they started making starters all the time. Are they referring to proper pitch rates helping, or does making a starter actually create a healthier yeast that will ferment better?

 

[rekoob]

I believe its more about proper pitching rates.
With the stir plate you let the yeast bump up the numbers and it normally starts fermentation faster.

 

[JonM]

Yep, starters let the yeast multiply so that there's enough of them to ferment the batch.

And FWIW, you don't really need a fancy stirplate setup to do starters (but they are very useful). I bet you could do an unstirred starter in whatever vessel you're using to ferment your 1-2 gallon batches. I nearly exclusively use a 1-gallon glass jug for my starters.

 

[dyqik]

There's also the aspect of ensuring yeast viability and activity. However, if your packages are in date, and have been stored correctly, you shouldn't have an issue with viability at the 1-2 gallon batch scale for regular to strong ale type yeasts. You might still need starters for stronger lagers (e.g. 70% viable package = 70 billion cells, which is just about right for a 1.050 2.0 gallon ale batch, but a significant underpitch for a 1.050 2.0 gallon lager. MrMalty estimates 40% viability for a 3 month old package, but I and some others suspect that this is often a underestimate of viability, due to it assuming storage at room temperature).

For activity, you can use the WYeast smack packs without a starter, which get the yeast up and active before pitching. I think this will only really affect the lag time though, not the amount of yeast growth.

 

[Calichusetts]

We finally got an LHBS in my town. They did a soft open and were still setting up but it looked like they will only carry White labs so no smack packs. I have used several wyeast packs with success, no starters. I just threw in the estimated OG of my wheat beer for this friday. If it was created in April, I will only need .7 vials to reach a proper pitch rate.

I was just wondering if there is any difference of a proper pitch rate WITH a starter vs. WITHOUT in terms of taste, aroma, floccation, etc.