Yeast Starter - How Soon Can I Cold Crash?

[jonathanchapman1]

I tried searching but cold crash is a very BROAD topic on here! Made up a 1.5 liter starter last night for my brew tomorrow afternoon. I am making a 3.5 gallon batch, so I am concerned about pitching the entire starter in there. That would increase 15% the volume of the wort with nasty starter beer. I typically pitch the whole starter, but was thinking maybe I should cold crash tonight, so I can decant tomorrow? That would be 24 hours after making the starter. Is this enough time to let a starter go before cold crashing? I use a stir plate.

 

[kh54s10]

I have read that 18 -24 hours is when the yeast are propagating. After that they are converting the sugar without much more cell growth. So I would say your plan is good. I always go 18 - 24 and decant any starters that are bigger than a liter.

 

[flars]

Starters times to complete on a stir plate are variable. A lot depends upon the yeast that is used. Timeline can range from 18 to 36 hoours. Twenty-four hours is usually sufficient
Let it go for 20 hours. Turn off the stir plate. After sitting undisturbed for 2 hours give the starter container a shake and swirl. If an instant krausen doesn't form your starter is done.

 

[jsmcclure]

I usually go 24 hours then crash. Nifty idea about letting it sit and swirling to test. Gotta try that!


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

 

[jonathanchapman1]

Thanks for the quick responses, I'll try the "twist and shout" test after 20 hours, and hopefully it will be done and I'll cold crash. Cheers!

 

[SpeedYellow]

Or a bubbler airlock will tell you if it's still fermenting.

But the plan is somewhat flawed -- if you want to decant the starter, you may need to wait 2-3 days for settling Probably depends on the yeast; my last starter (Oktoberfest Blend) didn't settle even slightly after 24 hrs.


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew

 

[jonathanchapman1]

Using wyeast 1098; I guess worst case scenario I pitch more liquid than preferred if it doesn't flocc out


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[butterpants]

24 hours, more often than not has not been enough cold crash time for my starters. It's enough time for them to multiply tho.

 

[BigFloyd]

Using a stir plate lessens the amount of time needed to reach the max number of cells you'll get from that starter. 18-20 hours is pretty typical using 1.035 starter wort. 24 on the high end. Simple starters take more like 28-32 hours.

The crash time depends on the strain (lagers taking much longer) and the temp. It's best to plan on a crash of a couple days for an ale starter. 3+ for a lager. Otherwise, you're dumping out a bunch of cells with the liquid.

 

[jonathanchapman1]

Just a follow up, in case anyone finds this thread in the future. I cold crashed over night, took out of fridge probably 20 hours after crashing. Yeast was wyeast 1098. Flocculation was decent, but starter was still hazy so not everything settled out. I decanted most of the liquid (and therefore some yeast), but still had probably a half inch in a 2liter erlenmeyer of solid yeast cake. Warmed up to room temp, pitched at 70 degrees into 1.116 OG wort. Fermentation took off within a few hours. In the future I'd give it at least an extra day to crash, but in this case I don't think I really screwed anything up.

 

[butterpants]

That's pretty high gravity for only a 2L starter

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Home Brew mobile app

 

[seabass07]

Not for a 3.5gal batch. That's probably fine since it was on a stir plate.

 

[butterpants]

yep, i missed the volume and assumed it was 5

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Home Brew mobile app

 

[crashtest22]

I am making a starter for a bock with 2487 hella bock (2 packs dated Jan 2014) and needed to step it.
I started with 2L at 1.040 let it run on the stir plate for about 20 hrs now its in the fridge at 38 deg crashing.
am going to decant and add new 1.040 wort then back to the plate for another 20-30 hrs. Settle, decant, pitch

sound about right?

 

[butterpants]

i usually go by visuals on the cold crash and sometimes it's more than 20 hrs but otherwise yea you're doing well

 

[crashtest22]

Thanks Butter
I pulled it out of the kegerator and put it back on the plate for a bit.
was still getting lots of activity on the first step.
going to pop it back in when I go to bed at 36 deg hoping it will drop out by mid day tomorrow so I can add new wort