Starter gyles

[Cromwell]

I gather that the most common method for making a starter is to use DME.

I was curious if anyone actually does a mash of 2-row just for the purpose of storing quarts of starter wort? I think it might be a little cheaper, although it seems like a buch of you maniacs just do stuff because you can.

 

[Sarrsipius]

2 batches ago I went to do my starter and realized I was out of DME so I did a mini mash with about a pound of the grainbill for the main beer. Took a hell of a lot longer but worked out just fine.

 

[william_shakes_beer]

I've read about a lot of people ovesparging and ending up with too much wort collected out of the MLT. Seems like popping it into a canning jar and putting it in the frige for a future starter would be better than letting it run down the drain, but that's just me.

 

[Sarrsipius]

I've read about a lot of people ovesparging and ending up with too much wort collected out of the MLT. Seems like popping it into a canning jar and putting it in the frige for a future starter would be better than letting it run down the drain, but that's just me.

Just be sure that the wort you use for your starter is around 1.040 OG. Final runnings from a mash will likely be much lower gravity than needed for a starter.

 

[bja]

I've read about a lot of people ovesparging and ending up with too much wort collected out of the MLT. Seems like popping it into a canning jar and putting it in the frige for a future starter would be better than letting it run down the drain, but that's just me.

I usually add a gallon or so extra sparge water and run this into a second pot, boil it for awhile then freeze it if I wont be making a starter for awhile.

Just be sure that the wort you use for your starter is around 1.040 OG. Final runnings from a mash will likely be much lower gravity than needed for a starter.

It doesn't need to be around 1.040. 1.030 is fine or even 1.025 will work.

 

[rocketman768]

I can 3 gallons of malt-derived wort at a time in a 16-qt pressure canner for sterilization. You can also just buy DME in 50 lb sacks if you are looking to save money.

 

[Revvy]

It's called a real wort starter and it is pretty common, and as rocketman said, some folks mash then can their starters.

 

[Cromwell]

Ok, here's a follow-on question then.
Since we don't care much about the taste of the starter (I discard the beer in the starter and only pitch the yeast), one could essentially get a free starter by sparging once more after the final runnings are taken, and boiling it down. It doesn't matter if you extract tannins, since you're not using the beer anyway, right?

 

[Revvy]

As long as your gravity is correct, I don't see why not.