Stepping up Starter

[fordtrophytruck]

I am brewing an Oktoberfest on Monday or Tuesday with an OG of 1.059. My plan was to pitch two vials into a 1 liter starter tonight then chill and decant and pitch that yeast into a 2l starter. Mr. Malty says I need 417 billion cells. I also use a stir plate. The production date of the yeast was April 8. Just want to make sure I have enough yeast. Any advice on how to work this out on Mr Malty? Thanks!

 

[JonK331]

I would just make a single 2 L starter with one vial. If you oxygenate and use a stir plate that should be fine.

 

[avidhomebrewer]

I agree with Jon. That amount should be sufficient.

 

[fordtrophytruck]

I do oxygenate satill doesn't seem like enough with just a 2l starter. Thanks for the input though. I went ahead with what I wrote. I already had the two vials.

 

[headfullahops]

Are you pitching into 5 Gal or 5.5 Gal or more? I do the same thing volumes-wise that JZ does: 6 Gal in the kettle at the end of boil, 5.5 Gal transferred to fermentor, and 5 Gal transfered to keg.

On the yeast pitching rate calculator on MrMalty.com, I entered the following values:

OG: 1.059 SG
Vol: 5.5 Gal
Prod. Date: 4/8/11
Yeast: Liquid
Starter: Stir Plate

It suggests 4 vials into 2.6L of starter wort. I think you're on the right track with the two stage starter from two vials. Either way, that's a big pitch of yeast and I think finding a yeast that has a later production date would go a long way to helping you out, too.

 

[fordtrophytruck]

5.5 gallons. Ya I should have looked for a better date, but didn't bother checking because usually I got recent vials when I buy from morebeer. I have the starter going already and everything should work out.