Starter or no starter?

[astropunk]

Why is there such conflicting information concerning the need for yeast starters?

I am going to brew a 5gal batch of Northern Brewer Phat Tyre from a kit. (1.050 OG) The yeast I have is a single Wyeast activator smack-pack.

This is quoted directly from Wyeast website:
"The Activator™ package contains a minimum of 100 billion cells in a yeast slurry.. The Activator™ is designed to directly inoculate 5 gallons of standard strength ale wort (1.034-1.060 SG) with professional pitching rates."

Mr Malty and a few other pitch calculators suggest either 2 yeast packs or a starter for a 5 gal batch of 1.050 beer.

So which is it?
Pitch the packet by itself, or make a starter?

If I make a starter, how big should it be? Mr Malty suggests a bit over 2 quarts, but does not say how much DME & water to mix for that amount.

 

[MalFet]

Mr Malty is always talking about a 1.040 starter, which you can roughly get by mixing 1g of DME per 10mL of water.

The Wyeast and White Labs folk claim that their packages are sufficient for anything up to 1.060, but most people around here disagree.

 

[sjbeerman]

For many new brewers and even some seasoned brewers, deciding when to make a starter can be a bit confusing due to the conflicting information from the manufacturers. What they don't talk about too much is the viabiilty of these yeast and what you don't know is how the yeast was handled by the distributor after it left the manufacturer. A 100 billion cells may be true before it leaves the manufacturer, but it is not likely true once it gets in your hands. Therefore, it is always safer to make a starter from liquid yeast rather than pitch directly from a WL vial or Wyeast smack pack. Trust me, I learned the hard way on this one after having many, many stuck fermentations due to less than ideal yeast viability.

 

[jfowler1]

Good questions.

I just listened to a three part interview with the owner of Wyeast. He said no less than 4 times that his smack packs provide enough yeast to be smacked and pitched 24 hours later into 5 gallons of wort - noting that is up to a gravity of around 1.060.

BUT

He also mentioned (pretty much in passing) that that smack pack is big enough and healthy enough as it leaves the lab. That little detail always seems to be missing from their ads. Odds are, the pack you have is not getting into your hands in lab-fresh condition. For that reason, I really throw the "our product has enough viable yeast to directly pitch" argument right out the window. Mr. Malty has a variable for production date because of how important freshness is. Even if you buy from a HBS with incredible turnover, you are still not getting a product that is lab-fresh. Many hands have touched that pack since it left Wyeast.

IMO, unless you are walking into Wyeast (or White Labs for that matter), buying a pack of yeast off the production line, going straight home, and pitching; that yeast needs a starter.

Pitching a smack pack directly will certainly ferment the wort (I've done it back in the day) but we are going for best practices here, not short-cuts that can still work. The direct pitch instructions exist because they appeal to a customer who wants to use liquid yeast, but does not understand how / does not have the equipment to make starters. Again, if you can make the starter, do it; and the results will speak for themselves.

Joe

 

[astropunk]

Guess I will play it safe and make the starter. If I make it tonight, it should be ready for a friday night brewing right?

According to the Palmer book I will mix 1/2cup DME with 1/2 qt water for 1.040 starter. I assume I would scale this up to yield the Mr Malty calculation of 1.9 quarts of starter? Thats almost a half gallon! That just seems like a lot.

 

[brettwasbtd]

Guess I will play it safe and make the starter. If I make it tonight, it should be ready for a friday night brewing right?

According to the Palmer book I will mix 1/2cup DME with 1/2 qt water for 1.040 starter. I assume I would scale this up to yield the Mr Malty calculation of 1.9 quarts of starter? Thats almost a half gallon! That just seems like a lot.

2 quarts is accurate. Ideally you'd want to make the starter, and then cold crash it in the fridge for 12 hours or so after it has fermented for 2-3 days. Then you can decant the liquid and pitch just the yeast. If you are going to pitch all of the liquid (account for that extra half gallon in your fermenter) and make the starter about 18 hours prior to your estimated pitch time so you will be pitching during the height of activity.

 

[ultravista]

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