Went and did it, pitched my whole starter!!!

[ThePearsonFam]

So, we've talked about decanting the liquid off the starter or just pitching the whole darn thing. I've always try to decant if able. Well, I found myself in the predicament that most people do when they have to make the decision. I made a 2L starter with White Labs Trappist (WLP500) for my Belgian Tripel. I made it too late in the game and it wasn't ready for me to brew yesterday. I decided to pitch the entire contents (at Krausen) to see how it turns out. I'll keep everyone posted.

For the record, I made a 2L starter @ 1040 w/ extra light DME. I swirled it every time I walkd by. Mr. Malty calculations indicated I'd need 1.5L of starter for my batch but I made 2L since I was late (in hopes of giving the yeast the most chance for success).

The recipe was:
10# Pilsner
2# Vienna
.75# CaraVienne
2oz Hallertaur @ 60
.5oz Styrian Goldings @ 30
1oz Saaz @ 3

Mashed at 150 for 60 minutes, mash-out at 170 for 15 minutes, boiled for 90 minutes and collected 5gal of wort. OG as 1065. Intend to add ~1# of candi sugar after initial fermentation is done. Intend to force carb in a keg.

 

[phuzle]

I did this on saturday. I made the starter a little late, and stuck it in the fridge for a few hours to get the yeast to drop. I didn't think that the starter had fermented out enough, because there was still airlock activity when I pulled it out of the fridge to pitch, and it looked like there was a lot of yeast floating. I ended up with only about 4.25 gallons after the boil, so I tossed almost the whole starter in to bring it up to about 4.6 gallons and bring my OG down a touch.

 

[kpr121]

The three times I made starters I tasted them to see how bad they are. Turned out that they didnt taste funky or cardboardy or anything, just like bland beer. So I pitched the whole thing. No sense in wasting good brew.

BTW those batches were all darker kits (porter, IPA, and pale ale). If I was doing a ligher ale or lager I would think a little harder about pitching the whole thing, then I would probably just do it anyways.

 

[joetothemo]

I bet it's great.

 

[ThePearsonFam]

Not worried, just interested to see if I'll taste anything since it's a pretty light colored, light bodied beer. The good thing is that is still fairly strong in abv and taste. The post boil sample was AWESOME!

 

[ArcaneXor]

The three times I made starters I tasted them to see how bad they are. Turned out that they didnt taste funky or cardboardy or anything, just like bland beer. So I pitched the whole thing. No sense in wasting good brew.

BTW those batches were all darker kits (porter, IPA, and pale ale). If I was doing a ligher ale or lager I would think a little harder about pitching the whole thing, then I would probably just do it anyways.

You don't use a stirplate, do you?

 

[ENS]

I always pitch my entire starter. Never had a problem.

 

[kpr121]

You don't use a stirplate, do you?

I do now, and the last starter was the first I've used it on. I did notice little bit more of a stale taste/smell to this one, due to the oxidation I suppose.

 

[ThePearsonFam]

Kegged this last night. It is terrific...