Starter questions

[tkline]

Hi all -

In a week or so I'm planning on brewing a California Common, and it will be my first time making a yeast starter. I'm shooting for 5.5 gallons into my fermenter, and the recipe calls for 3 liquid packets of WLP 810. I have a 2000 ml flask and a stir plate, so making the starter isn't a problem.

My question is, when I make the starter, should I use two packs of WLP 810 as the starting point, or is one enough? Also, when I go to pitch, should I use the whole starter or just a portion? Overall I'm just looking for general guidance so I can easily calculate how many packs I'll need to use next time, and how much to use.

 

[paneubert]

I assume when they say 3 liquid packets of WLP 810, they mean the cell count from three packs. Even one pack in a starter is going to only slightly allow an increase in overall cell count due to it already being high. If you are making a starter, you only need one pack total, and will use the starter (probably decanted and stepped up) to gain the cell count from what would normally be 3 liquid packets assuming no starter being made at all. Correct me if I am reading you wrong.

 

[LLBeanJ]

1 pack in a 2-liter starter will get you close to 400B cells, which should be close enough. Crash and decant starter beer, then pitch all of the slurry.

 

[paneubert]

1 pack in a 2-liter starter will get you close to 400B cells, which should be close enough. Crash and decant starter beer, then pitch all of the slurry.

Yeah, that is the piece of info that would be helpful from the recipe. What cell count do they assume is coming from these "three packs". If we guess the OG is around 1.054, 400B cells seems totally in the right ballpark.

 

[tkline]

Thanks guys, really appreciate the feedback. It's actual Jamil's recipe in brewing classic styles, so it just says 3 packs of WLP 810 - so you're correct that it would be the cell count for the three. Basically it says either use 3, or "an appropriate sized starter". The O.G. is right at 1.053.

 

[philly224]

Thanks guys, really appreciate the feedback. It's actual Jamil's recipe in brewing classic styles, so it just says 3 packs of WLP 810 - so you're correct that it would be the cell count for the three. Basically it says either use 3, or "an appropriate sized starter". The O.G. is right at 1.053.

It'd be best to use a calculator! http://www.brewunited.com/yeast_calculator.php

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Are you basing your starter on lager, or ale? You can go closer to an ale (even though it's kind of a lager) because it'll be fermented warm. One (fresh) smack-pack in a 2L starter will be fine. Either make it a few days early, crash and decant (pitch the slurry) or make it a day before and pitch the whole thing. There are many opinions on this - I prefer to make a starter similar to the beer it's going in and pitch the whole thing when it's at high krausen.