Yeast Starter with LME - Mistake!

[MichaelTH]

I've never made a yeast starter before, but was planning on brewing a big Belgian beer and was using some old yeast so I figured I should. John Palmer's book said to put a half cup of extract into a pint of water, and so I did.

This morning I realized that he was referring to DME not LME, and therefore my starter gravity is probably way too high! I saw some activity in the starter, but it's in a dark growler and I can't see all that much.

So:
1. Do you think my yeasties will be too worn out to attack the Belgian that I want to brew tomorrow?
2. What would be the right amount of LME to use for a starter (I have some leftover extract that wouldn't be good for actual beer-making)?

 

[Miraculix]

I've never made a yeast starter before, but was planning on brewing a big Belgian beer and was using some old yeast so I figured I should. John Palmer's book said to put a half cup of extract into a pint of water, and so I did.

This morning I realized that he was referring to DME not LME, and therefore my starter gravity is probably way too high! I saw some activity in the starter, but it's in a dark growler and I can't see all that much.

So:
1. Do you think my yeasties will be too worn out to attack the Belgian that I want to brew tomorrow?
2. What would be the right amount of LME to use for a starter (I have some leftover extract that wouldn't be good for actual beer-making)?

Lme has less sugars per weight than dme, you'll be fine!

The difference isn't that big anyway....

 

[MichaelTH]

Lme has less sugars per weight than dme, you'll be fine!

The difference isn't that big anyway....

Yes, per weight-- but per volume?

 

[Miraculix]

Yes, per weight-- but per volume?

I don't know, volume is heavily dependent on other factors like grain size and or temperature. That's why measuring solids and even liquids by volume is mostly a bad idea due to the inaccuracy. Lesson learned, you'll still be fine, brew on!

 

[Toxxyc]

LME is between 60% and 70% sugar. So 1kg LME = around 600grams to 700grams sugar. I don't think it'll make any worrying difference. As long as you have a good yeast colony in the starter come pitch, you'll be just fine.

 

[IslandLizard]

Hold your horses!

After some Google queries and browsing, I found this thread:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/liquid-malt-extract.180966/

According to that, 1 gallon of LME weighs 13.5 pounds, or 3.5 kg per liter. Perhaps there's a little headspace left in prepackaged cans of LME as 3.3 kg seems to be the most common weight for those. We're not too far off base.

You used 1/4 cup which is .06 liter
.06 * 3.5 kg = .21 kg or .21 * 2.2 = .46 pounds

1 pound of LME yields around 36 points in a gallon, or a gravity of 1.036.
This equals to 36 * 8 = 288 points in a pint. You used .46 pounds
.46 * 288 = 132 points in your pint of starter, which translates to:
A starter gravity of 1.132 !!!

Uhm...

 

[Miraculix]

Hold your horses!

After some Google queries and browsing, I found this thread:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/liquid-malt-extract.180966/

According to that, 1 gallon of LME weighs 13.5 pounds, or 3.5 kg per liter. Perhaps there's a little headspace left in prepackaged cans of LME as 3.3 kg seems to be the most common weight for those. We're not too far off base.

You used 1/4 cup which is .06 liter
.06 * 3.5 kg = .21 kg or .21 * 2.2 = .46 pounds

1 pound of LME yields around 36 points in a gallon, or a gravity of 1.036.
This equals to 36 * 8 = 288 points in a pint. You used .46 pounds
.46 * 288 = 132 points in your pint of starter, which translates to:
A starter gravity of 1.132 !!!

Uhm...

OK, that is actually a bit much.....

 

[OnePlate]

According to BYO, 1 pound of LME equals very approximately 1.3 cups.
1 pound of LME yields around 36 points in a gallon, or a gravity of 1.036.
8 pints = 1 US gallon.
Therefore 1 pint of starter wort would need 1.3 cups / 8 = 0.1625 cups or about 2.5 tablespoons of LME.