Warm or cold fermentation for a starter?

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Bulls Beers

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When I brew lagers, I usually ferment my starters at the same temp as the batch I'm brewing. Does it matter?

I watched a video on another thread that it's not good to ferment longer than a day or so. I usually ferment 3-4 days. I'm brewing a 10 gallon batch this week and I'm gonna cut the starter fermenting time down to his recommendation. So what about the temp? Warm or cold, Does it matter?
 
I have heard of people making lager starters cool, though if you are decanting I suspect you'd be okay either way. Most starter temp recommendations are in the low 70s or high 60s. So long as you aren't very high or very low, I don't think it is too critical.

The "don't let your starter ferment for longer than a day" sounds like crazy-talk to me. Where is the video? Chris White from White Labs recommends 2 days on a plate and 2 days in a fridge to stock glycogen and trehalose (in which time fermentation will generally be done).
 
I have heard of people making lager starters cool, though if you are decanting I suspect you'd be okay either way. Most starter temp recommendations are in the low 70s or high 60s. So long as you aren't very high or very low, I don't think it is too critical.

The "don't let your starter ferment for longer than a day" sounds like crazy-talk to me. Where is the video? Chris White from White Labs recommends 2 days on a plate and 2 days in a fridge to stock glycogen and trehalose (in which time fermentation will generally be done).

Yes it was Chris. I though he said a day or so. I'll have to listen to him again.

"Most starter temp recommendations are in the low 70s or high 60s." Even for lager yeasts?
 
Yes it was Chris. I though he said a day or so. I'll have to listen to him again.

"Most starter temp recommendations are in the low 70s or high 60s." Even for lager yeasts?

Yep, that's what I have always read (and done). I don't know of any technical reason that you would want to ferment cooler than room temperature. If one of the lager experts want to contradict me, though, I'll be glad to hear it.

I'd be curious to hear what CW was saying there. In a half-dozen places, I have heard him say to let the ferment go until finished plus one day on the stir plate.
 
Yep, that's what I have always read (and done). I don't know of any technical reason that you would want to ferment cooler than room temperature. If one of the lager experts want to contradict me, though, I'll be glad to hear it.

I'd be curious to hear what CW was saying there. In a half-dozen places, I have heard him say to let the ferment go until finished plus one day on the stir plate.

I forget what thread it was on. I'm gonna try and dig it up now.
 
Yep, that's what I have always read (and done). I don't know of any technical reason that you would want to ferment cooler than room temperature. If one of the lager experts want to contradict me, though, I'll be glad to hear it.

Not sure if it matters, but the reason I read to do it this way was not to shock the yeast. I try and get my wort as close to 50 degrees as possible when I pitch. I guess I could pitch at a warmer temp and slowly cool it to 50, but I've always pitched cold.
 
Bulls Beers said:
Not sure if it matters, but the reason I read to do it this way was not to shock the yeast. I try and get my wort as close to 50 degrees as possible when I pitch. I guess I could pitch at a warmer temp and slowly cool it to 50, but I've never done it that way.

Oh, right...I would definitely endorse pitching colder yeast into warmer wort and not the other way around, but everything I'm saying is contingent on a cold crash and decanting before pitching.
 
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