Stepped Starter Questions...

[NickThoR]

I can't seem to find great info on the process of stepping a starter, so i have a few questions.

Planned beer is a lager with a planned OG of 1.058, using Wyeast Munich Lager 2308. Most yeast calcs say i need 450bil or so cells, and 600bill or so attainable with a stir plate, 2l starter, and a 2l step ( id like to overbuild and save some as well)

-Should I make a 2l starter, then after 24hrs crash, decant, and add another 2l or wort to it?

-Should I make 2l starter in a gallon jug ( i have a 2l Erlenmeyer and a few gallon jugs), then after 24 hrs add another 2l of wort?

-One big 4L starter in the gallon jug?

-Another method i don't know of? lol

for each method, once finished stepping i assume i could crash, decant, save 1/4 of it for the future, then pitch the remaining 3/4.

Thanks!

 

[NickThoR]

So I just realized my best best by date is in 3 weeks... Yeast calcs say I need a 4l starter then a 4l step. This seems like a lot... Any advice? I assume if so then decant and add 4l to the yeast.
Luckily I have a 9.5ltr glass carboy the stir plate still works on

 

[NickThoR]

yeast has been stirring for 24 hours with no activity....guess ill give it till brew day Sat am then get some dry yeast.

 

[NickThoR]

for anyone reading - lesson learned to listen to the experienced. got some minor activity after 36 hours, so ill still pitch it tomorow in the morning

 

[Leezer]

I'm not experienced enough to help with how to do a stepped starter, but I recently made one (non-stepped) for a lager and it did require a larger starter than normal. I use this for calculating starters, including if I want to do an overbuild and how much to pitch vs. save. The first box you can set target pitch rate for Ale, Lager, etc.

https://www.brewunited.com/yeast_calculator.php
The yeast I used was Wyeast 2124 and I have to say the starter fermentation was not super vigorous compared to some other ale yeasts I've used.

 

[catalanotte]

I get the best outcomes by fermenting the starter completely and chilling if needed to settle out the yeast, for me this takes about 2-3 days. Decant off as much of the liquid as possible, allow the slurry to come back to fermentation temp and pitch into your next starter step or wort. If it is too thick to pour, use some sterile starter or wort to loosen it up.

You can confirm that your starter wort is spent with an FG reading. Assuming you started at ~1.040, the FG should be about 1.008. At this point your yeast is done growing until you provide more food.