starter in a pinch?

[uglygoat]

assume you have no malt extract, liquid or dried and no saved sparge runoff... nor do you have the desire to trudge through the holiday traffic/shoppers to aquire dme... could you use any other fermentable to make a decent starter, like say some of the malto dextrine from the make your own soda gift you got for brother #2, or some corn sugar for priming? or should you just suffer through the slow lag of dumping a wyeast smack pack into your brew?

 

[2nd Street Brewery]

I would think you should be able to use a solution of corn sugar to make a starter. I use DME to prime so why wouldn't the reverse be true. You are just looking for food for the yeast. I don't know about the Malto Dextrin. I thought that was high in non fermentables but I could be wrong.

 

[Kaiser]

The problem is that DME provies not only fermentables but also other nutrients to the yeast. They need that stuff to grow healthy. If you have yeast nutrients at home, then you should be able to use corn sugar or boiled table sugar to make a starter. Look what is necessary to get a healthy cider fermentation, since this faces the same problem -> lack of essential nutrients from malted grains.

Happy Holidays,
Kai

 

[uglygoat]

the smack pack claims there are yeast nutrients in the bubble i broke last night. i'll see how swollen the pack is when i get home.

i'm hesitant to drop the yeast in corn sugar...

the malto dextrine is what i'm really curious about...

 

[El Pistolero]

the smack pack claims there are yeast nutrients in the bubble i broke last night. i'll see how swollen the pack is when i get home.

i'm hesitant to drop the yeast in corn sugar...

the malto dextrine is what i'm really curious about...

Malto dextrine seems like it would work, but if you've got a smack pack, and it's swollen, then in this case I think I'd just pitch it without a starter...but then again I'm a wuss and don't like to experiment too much with my beer.

 

[God Emporer BillyBrew]

I agree with El P. I'd just pitch it from the packet. Tons of people do that and have success. Why take the chance?

 

[casebrew]

For my current batch, I used "Dark Karo Syrup". It has no vanilla added, just some carmel for coloring. I added it to a sauce pan of water, heated, then cooled, added my dry Nottingham yeast. It was bubbling by the time I cooled my wort. The fermenter was bubbling away in 5 hours. Last time I used sugar, fermenter took a whole day to show activity.

 

[Kaiser]

My attention deficit got me again

I didn't even notice that you have a smack pack (even though you mentioned it). As EP says, pitch this. Most of the Homebrewers are doing this anyway (and I used to do it too). It's more important that you aerate you wort well in order to reduce the lag times.

 

[uglygoat]

i've only used white labs vials of yeast, and always made a starter, except for the first batch we brewed in dec... the lag was horrid, almost a day, but then it blew it's top, all over the bar...

i'm just concerned that the smack pack is gonna be like tossing the vial of yeast in there, i hate lag.

what are experiences with lag times with the smack pack?

 

[Beer Snob]

I don't know about the Malto Dextrin. I thought that was high in non fermentables but I could be wrong.

The person I bought supplies from today did tell me that Malto Dextrin is high in non fermentables, which is why people use it for "mouthfeel".

 

[david_42]

I've had good lag times (~12 hours) with smack pacs.

Malto Dextrin, used for additional body and to aid head retention. Non-fermentable.

 

[uglygoat]

the smack pack is swollen, almost ready to burst, so i'll just pitch it when we're done chilling the wort.

let you know the results...

thanks all, and merry christmas.

 

[Pumbaa]

I have never had a lag time greater then 10 hours. I have exclusively used smack packs so far (and never made a starter from them), since it's all my LHBS seems to carry. The Wheet I just made actually was bubbling very nicely (almost too active for comfort) just 4 hours after I pitched it. When I went to bed that night it already was starting to develpe a really nice kruasen, in fact I just got home from work so I should check on the brew real fast. I should be at about the 36 hour mark after pitching by now (pitched about 8PM Thrusday night about 9AM Xmas eve now)

 

[uglygoat]

hmmm the smack pack swelled up nice, but there was still only about a half a cup of liquid in the pack... lag was almost 20 hrs, of course the ferment temp is at the low end of the scale for the yeast...

tis bubbling away nicely now, so no worries, but i'll be buying a pound or two of dme for me starters next time i hit the hbs.

 

[homebrewer_99]

You should always have some extra malt/corn sugar on hand.

 

[uglygoat]

is corn sugar sufficient for a starter?

 

[homebrewer_99]

Definitely.

I consider a starters PRIMARY purpose is to make certain your yeast is good. By making a starter you have proved that.

Secondary: Cell growth.

Tertiary: To reduce lag time.

Others may agree/disagree.

Your mileage may vary and no animals were harmed in any way except for the ones we BBQ'd.

 

[El Pistolero]

Definitely.

I consider a starters PRIMARY purpose is to make certain your yeast is good. By making a starter you have proved that.

Secondary: Cell growth.

Tertiary: To reduce lag time.

Others may agree/disagree.

Since I have permission ()...I disagree. I think maximizing cell count (which is how you decrease lag time) is the most important reason to pitch a starter, and you're not going to do that using corn sugar, IMHO.

 

[uglygoat]

back to the yeasty nutrients in the dme, which the sugar doesn't have for cell growth? wht would the the corn sugar do then?

this is the third batch i've made in the new house. i usually have a bag or two of dme, but it musta got lost in the move, or wet or ripped open, but i cannae find it...

actually, i think i'll make the little bro buy a bag of dme

 

[El Pistolero]

back to the yeasty nutrients in the dme, which the sugar doesn't have for cell growth? wht would the the corn sugar do then?

I'm gonna have to track down the references, but in a nutshell corn sugar is ideal for fermentation, but not optimal for cell growth and multiplication.