What to do with yeast?

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whovous

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OK, this is going to be way too long because I feel like I do not know what I am talking about here and I do not want to leave something out that MIGHT be important.

Until now, I have always brewed with first generation yeast (mostly dry, but more recently liquid) from a commercial package and then discarded the trub and yeast cake when I finished.

A month or two ago, I brewed a Centennial Blonde with Conan yeast (Gigayeast Vermont IPA) with the primary objective of harvesting the yeast and using the second generation for a NE IPA as described in Braufessor's NE IPA thread. I bottled directly from the tap on the FV and left about a pint of beer behind.

I stirred it all up and divided the mess between two pint Mason jars, put the lids on semi-loosely, and stored the jars in the fridge. On Wednesday, I bought a stir plate, a 1L beaker and foam stopper, some DME and some White Labs yeast nutrition stuff.

It is Saturday morning. I plan to brew on Tuesday night. Now what?

Here is what I think I do, with questions.
1) Take one jar from fridge very soon.
2) Boil some RO water, add some DME and make a weak beer. How much water and how much DME? I've only ever made all grain brews, so any advice here would be appreciated. My flask is one liter, and my planned brew batch size is a touch under three gallons.
3) Let the DME beer cool to room temp.
4) When I combine the DME beer and the yeast, do I pour off the beer atop the yeast, or add it to the mix? Does it matter?
5) How long on the stirplate? No yeast nutrient until pitch time, right?
6) Once the yeast has done its thing on the stir plate, do I put the whole batch in a jar and return it to the fridge to allow it to settle, and then take it out on brew day to assume room temp?
7) When it is time to pitch, do I pour off the liquid and pitch the rest?

As you may have figured out, I am very nervous about this entire process. Am I on the right track here, or am I missing one or more important details? Help me out here!
 
Make the starter on Sunday night.
1) take a jar out of the fridge an hour or two before you make the starter.
2) use the ratio of 100 grams per liter of water. Use a yeast calculator to determine the size of the starter. I use this one: http://www.yeastcalculator.com/
3) Yes
4) Pour off the liquid (carefully so you don't lose yeast)
5) 18-24 hours I don't use nutrient but I would add it right away. I use nutrient in the boil of the beer itself.
6) If you want to decant the starter "beer" put it in the fridge Monday night and decant just before pitching on brew day. If it is small I sometimes just pitch it all.
7) See #6 I decant any starter over 1 liter.

I suggest you get a bigger flask, you are going to want to make bigger starters eventually.

If you decide to pitch the whole starter you can make the starter on Monday.
 
Take the yeast out the morning of your brew day,or the night before(Ive done both with the same results).Swirl it up and dump it in the fermenter..That simple.I've never made a starter with a slurry.A mason jar has way more than enough yeast on its own. I almost use leftover yeast exclusively and never had a single issue with not making a starter.Post a pick of your jar so we can see what you have
 
Do I need bigger starters for 3 gallon brews?

Is this summary correct:
Take out of fridge Sunday afternoon, make beer and cool, carefully pour off beer from yeast, 24 hours on starter plate, then to fridge on Monday night. Is that about right?
 
I will need to steal the phone of SWMBO, as mine is off for warranty repair.

I want to learn about starters, so I plan to make one. My hope is that it cannot hurt, and will very possibly help.
 
Take the yeast out the morning of your brew day,or the night before(Ive done both with the same results).Swirl it up and dump it in the fermenter..That simple.I've never made a starter with a slurry.A mason jar has way more than enough yeast on its own. I almost use leftover yeast exclusively and never had a single issue with not making a starter.Post a pick of your jar so we can see what you
have

This is good with fresher saved yeast. At two months I would make a starter.

Do I need bigger starters for 3 gallon brews?

Is this summary correct:
Take out of fridge Sunday afternoon, make beer and cool, carefully pour off beer from yeast, 24 hours on starter plate, then to fridge on Monday night. Is that about right?

You might never need a starter for a 3 gallon batch. But if you go with a high alcohol beer or a larger amount you might.

Right, on Tuesday, warm the starter to your pitching temperature before use. Then decant the liquid from the starter just before pitching.
 
Someone asked for a picture of the jar. Does this add anything?

Yeast.jpg
 
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