Yeast Starter- When?

[arringtonbp]

So this is the first time I will be using a yeast starter. Brew day is Saturday.

I'm using - White Labs London Ale yeast
1.25 cups DME

I want to make a 2L starter. Is it alright to just go for the 2L outright or do I need to "step up" to it? If so, how does that work?

Timing- When do I start this thing? I want to decant the liquid off of the top, so I will need to leave time to refrigerate it.

 

[arringtonbp]

Also, the plan is to use a 1 gallon cider jug to do this in. I could possibly find a 2 liter bottle, but it wouldn't have enough head space...

 

[brettwasbtd]

Def use the gallon jug! No worries about overflowing blowoff on the starter. I would say you are pretty safe without stepping it up. Unless the tube of white labs is REAL old. I recommend checking out the yeast pitching calculator over at Mr Malty

I recommend making the starter Wednesday or Thursday night and put it in the fridge Friday night before bed. Take it out and decant a few hours before you plan on pitching and let it warm up before pitching.

 

[arringtonbp]

Def use the gallon jug! No worries about overflowing blowoff on the starter. I would say you are pretty safe without stepping it up. Unless the tube of white labs is REAL old. I recommend checking out the yeast pitching calculator over at Mr Malty

I recommend making the starter Wednesday or Thursday night and put it in the fridge Friday night before bed. Take it out and decant a few hours before you plan on pitching and let it warm up before pitching.

Is the "foil method" okay? I think I may try to do the starter tuesday or wednesday night, because Thursday is very busy. If I get the starter into the fridge about 1 day after I make it, I should be okay right?

 

[brettwasbtd]

Foil is great, I sanitize it and then cover. Dust and contaminates are subject to the law of gravity and won't get in. If I am decanting I let it go about 24-48 hours. Theoretically most replication is finished between 18-24 hours I believe. So ya make it one night, stick it in the fridge the next and pull it out and decant a few hours before pitching

 

[arringtonbp]

So, I made the starter this afternoon, and I'm not really seeing any activity at all. There's a lot of headspace in the starter (since it's a 2 liter starter and I'm using a gallon jug), and I'm using foil instead of an airlock and stopper. How can I tell if it's stuck/yeast are dead?

 

[brettwasbtd]

Usually takes a good 12-18 hours to see anything visible. if you look closely you may see tiny bubbles occassionally. shake it often in a circular motion increase the oxygen in it.

 

[arringtonbp]

Usually takes a good 12-18 hours to see anything visible. if you look closely you may see tiny bubbles occassionally. shake it often in a circular motion increase the oxygen in it.

Thanks I'll give it a shot.

 

[formula2fast]

Not to hijack the thread, but very related, how long can you leave a starter in the fridge before pitching day ? Is just one night all you can, or would a couple days hurt it?

 

[brettwasbtd]

You can definitely leave it longer than a night. I would think that after a week or longer you may want to make another starter to get them active again. Last week I made a starter thursday night, krausen had risen and fallen by the time I put it in the fridge late friday night. I took it out, decanted and let it sit on the counter top as I went about my saturday. When I started to brew around 2 i noticed a tiny bit of activity as the yeast had come back to temperature. I brewed and pitched around 7pm. I had huge krausen come sunday morning. If I had left the starter in the fridge a few days I might just see a slower lag time to high krausen.

 

[Grinnan5150]

In regards to the OP question about the cider jug. Next time you are at a brew pub buy a growler to take home. Enjoy the beer and then use the growler for your starters. It works well for me.

 

[brettwasbtd]

In regards to the OP question about the cider jug. Next time you are at a brew pub buy a growler to take home. Enjoy the beer and then use the growler for your starters. It works well for me.

I agree a growler is good for a 1L starter. But often I am making 2L-3L starters and the growler doesnt work for me in that application. I also like a clear glass vessel as its easier to see what is going on. Just my take. I think the OP already had a cider container, so it makes sense to use what you have

 

[arringtonbp]

I agree a growler is good for a 1L starter. But often I am making 2L-3L starters and the growler doesnt work for me in that application. I also like a clear glass vessel as its easier to see what is going on. Just my take. I think the OP already had a cider container, so it makes sense to use what you have

Yeah I already had a few cider containers. Thus far I haven't seen a lot of activity. The temperature today got up a little bit higher than I expected, maybe up to around 73-75 F, but probably not higher. I am brewing with London Ale yeast, so maybe that will be okay :-\.

There's been about an eighth of an inch of small bubbles on top for about 6 hours today. When I shake it up (as i have been doing every few hours), i get about a half inch of foam. The air that comes out from underneath the foil smells strongly of alcohol (almost cidery), so I know it is fermenting. How can I tell if it's going well/ if it's done?

Note: I started the starter yesterday around 2PM. It's currently 5:30 PM where I am. Is it time to throw it in the fridge?

Also, I'm going for a cell count of about 200 billion for my who's your taddy porter (from the classic styles book). Given that white labs yeast has about 100 billion per tube, I wanted to double the amount of yeast by using a 2L starter. This is correct, right?

 

[brettwasbtd]

I would let it go, its not gonna hurt it to go a bit longer. The foam is good and means it is fermenting well. Probably stick it in the fridge in the morning

Temps aren't a huge concern on starters, especially when you will be decant off the fermented liquid. Ya, according to mr malty and the OG of that recipe, 1.052, you want 200 billion cells.

 

[arringtonbp]

I would let it go, its not gonna hurt it to go a bit longer. The foam is good and means it is fermenting well. Probably stick it in the fridge in the morning

Temps aren't a huge concern on starters, especially when you will be decant off the fermented liquid. Ya, according to mr malty and the OG of that recipe, 1.052, you want 200 billion cells.

Wow, thanks!

 

[brettwasbtd]

No problem, FYI - I have brewing classic style next to my computer so i just quickly looked up the recipe

 

[arringtonbp]

No problem, FYI - I have brewing classic style next to my computer so i just quickly looked up the recipe

Ever tried that one? This will be my first non-kit extract beer, and the recipes from that book looked good.