Starter or pitch from the packet?

[kappclark]

Are you talking about liquid or dry yeast?

If it's dry you don't need a starter, though many recommend re-hydrating.

And, incredibly, according to the Dry yeast faq at Danstar, you don't need to aerate the wort before using dry yeast !


"I always aerate my wort when using liquid yeast. Do I need to aerate the wort before pitching dry yeast?

No, there is no need to aerate the wort but it does not harm the yeast either. During its aerobic production, dry yeast accumulates sufficient amounts of unsaturated fatty acids and sterols to produce enough biomass in the first stage of fermentation. The only reason to aerate the wort when using wet yeast is to provide the yeast with oxygen so that it can produce sterols and unsaturated fatty acids which are important parts of the cell membrane and therefore essential for biomass production. "

http://www.danstaryeast.com/faq.html

Maybe this is why dry yeast seems to take off so fast!

 

[dmbnpj]

I finally got everything I needed and started yesterday trying to harvest the yeast from some Hoegarden. It has been on the stirplate now for more than a day. Should I be seeing some white buildup on the bottom? Because so far I have seen nothing but some foam on top.

Still wondering about this. Now it looks like I have just been spinning crap in a flask for several days now?

 

[GrizlyGarou]

Still wondering about this. Now it looks like I have just been spinning crap in a flask for several days now?

Take it off the stirplate and put it in your fridge. That white scum on the bottom will be your yeast. If you started with the yeast from one bottle, there won't be much but there will be some. You can pour off the liquid after it's all settled out and add more wort to get more yeast.

 

[dmbnpj]

I used about 10 bottles. I guess I will just have to let it settle and see what I got.