Stepping Up A Starter?

[triat00]

Most folks will say that, yes, you need to decant between each step. My starters are typically 2 or 3 steps and I always add the wort for step 2 right on top of step 1 once it has finished and only decant between steps 2 and 3, and if I have time, another decant before pitching. If I don't have time, I'll pitch the whole thing. I also always save a little off from the starter into a sanitized mason jar for a future starter.

a newB question but, I presume you're doing it for harvested yeast (maybe more step), washed yeast and Whitlabe/Wyeast whent there is not enough yeast for a high gravity beer?

When do you just do a one step starter. For exemple a 2liter starter without stepping it? With all the reading I do, I can only see when you use Whitelab/Wyeast and you have a "regular" OG beer. Am I right? I cant do one step with harvested or washed yeast?

Thanks!

 

[LLBeanJ]

Yes, my multi-step starters, which are pretty much all I do, start with yeast that was saved from a previous starter. The amount of yeast going into the first step is typically 25 to 75 billion cells that may be several months old, so viability is generally calculated to be around 10%, so 2 to 7 billion viable cells. To get this amount of yeast up to pitching quantity will require typically 3 steps (I go .4L --> .8L --> 1.2L). At least that's how I do it. Others may take another approach. This would be the same for washed yeast, unless it is fresh and the cell count is high enough that a single step would suffice.

One step starters will generally work with a fresh vial or smack pack and with harvested slurry pulled from the bottom of your fermentor that may be a few weeks old.

Fortunately, there are excellent free tools available to help you figure out what you need, I.e., yeastcalc.com and Mrmalty.com. If starting with clean yeast, whether a fresh vial or smackpack, saved yeast from a previous starter, or clean washed yeast, yeastcalc is awesome for stepped starters, whether one step or several. If using harvested slurry, I've found that MrMalty is the way to go.

 

[curtw]

So another noob question on stepping, sorry in advance.

First starter will be in a 2L Erlenmeyer flask. Okay, I get to krausen, cold crash it, now I want to go to step 2. But the yeast cake in in my flask; do I need a second flask to boil the next starter to add onto the yeast cake?

Or do I transfer the yeast cake to a temp vessel, and add it back to the (cooled) step 2 starter?

Reading many articles in these forums, still confused.

Thanks!

 

[Dave37]

So another noob question on stepping, sorry in advance.

First starter will be in a 2L Erlenmeyer flask. Okay, I get to krausen, cold crash it, now I want to go to step 2. But the yeast cake in in my flask; do I need a second flask to boil the next starter to add onto the yeast cake?

Or do I transfer the yeast cake to a temp vessel, and add it back to the (cooled) step 2 starter?

Reading many articles in these forums, still confused.

Thanks!

Don't apologize man. That's what these forums are for. I would recommend boiling your second batch of starter wort in a small pot. Cooling it down to room temp and pitching it on top of the yeast cake you already have in your flask then shake it up get the yeast back into suspension and throw her back on your stirplate. Easy peezy japaneezy.

 

[LLBeanJ]

Don't apologize man. That's what these forums are for. I would recommend boiling your second batch of starter wort in a small pot. Cooling it down to room temp and pitching it on top of the yeast cake you already have in your flask then shake it up get the yeast back into suspension and throw her back on your stirplate. Easy peezy japaneezy.

^ This.