Starter process

[farmskis]

I have never made a starter so I am looking to see if my process will work. Please advise on my process.
1. Morning on day before brew day I will prepare the starter by boiling 2 l water and 200g of dme to make the wort.
2. Cool the wort to roughly 75 degrees and add to sanitized growler.
3. Add the liquid yeast, in this case it is a lager yeast.
4. Shake to aerate and then cover loosely and sit out on counter. Should be roughly 68-70 degrees.
5. Shake it up every couple hours or so throughout the day.
6. On brew day while brewing I will place in fridge.
7. Once I begin to cool the brewed wort I will pull out the starter and decant off the wort to pitch the yeast slurry.
8. Plan on pitching the slurry when the wort is around 60 degrees then continue to cool the wort to fermentation temp of 51.

The brew is 4.5 gal of lager that is around 1.050 grav.

Does this process sound reasonable? Anything you might do different in the given amount of time? ( 24-36 hours from start of starter to pitching)

 

[unviewtiful]

I recommend giving yourself some more time for the whole process. I usually give myself 24-36 hours on a stir plate, then 24ish hours in the fridge. Then at the beginning of the brew day, pull out of the fridge and decant right after I start the mash so the yeast has time to gradually warm to pitching temps.

And you might also want to look into your pitch rates. The growth factor of intermittent stirring isn't as high as a stir plate, so you might need to make a bigger starter.

 

[farmskis]

I recommend giving yourself some more time for the whole process. I usually give myself 24-36 hours on a stir plate, then 24ish hours in the fridge. Then at the beginning of the brew day, pull out of the fridge and decant right after I start the mash so the yeast has time to gradually warm to pitching temps.

And you might also want to look into your pitch rates. The growth factor of intermittent stirring isn't as high as a stir plate, so you might need to make a bigger starter.

Thank you for your suggestion. I was wondering if the time was kind of short. How long beforehand can the yeast be started? I work 5 ( which I am not home) have 2 off. If I prepare the yeast on the prior days off can it sit for 5-6 days until I brew on the next days off?
I did check the pitch rate and I went with a quantity in-between stir plate and no stir plate.

Would help if I pitched the entire starter and did not try to cool it down and decant?

 

[IslandLizard]

You could prepare your yeast starters the weekend before, when you're around, then cold crash during the 5 days you're off.

Also look up "Vitality Starters."

Using a stir plate or shaker would help grow more yeast and quicker.

You can pitch the whole starter without crashing and decanting. Depending on your beer adding the 2l of starter beer may dilute or impact the flavor a little, but from what I've read it's fairly insignificant in most beers. Many homebrewers do it.