Yeast Starter

[Joseph524]

Ok here it goes. If I have a batch that starts out at 1.080 for a 5 gal batch
and using mrmalty.com it says I need around 300 billion. How would I increase the yeast, starting with a wyeast packet of 100 billion to increase to 300 billion with out not adding in 3 packs? I did some looking but cant seem to find the information I need. Please clue me in on this. Thank you

 

[Pie_Man]

Make a starter per mrmalty's guidelines. If you don't have a stir plate, I would select either the intermittent shaking, or the simple starter option. Make a wort the size mrmalty specifies. It should be about 1.040 gravity wort,1g DME per 10 ml of water. The yeast will then grow in numbers.

 

[SpeedYellow]

Also check out yeastcalc.com, which handles stepped starters really well. Assuming your yeast is a few weeks old, they'll say you need about a 6 liter starter. Or you can do a stepped starters-- for example 1.5L then 2.5L gets you over 300b (and also saves a little DME, but is more hassle and adds another step for baddies to get in).

p.s. when someone says "1L starter" that means 1L water and 100g DME.

 

[ResumeMan]

p.s. when someone says "1L starter" that means 1L water and 100g DME.

Just to be totally pedantic (sorry), it actually means 1 L total volume containing 100g DME Since the extract takes up some volume, the amount of water will actually be somewhat less than 1 L.

 

[Sulli]

Just to be totally pedantic (sorry), it actually means 1 L total volume containing 100g DME Since the extract takes up some volume, the amount of water will actually be somewhat less than 1 L.

Actually, SpeedYellow has it right.

1 liter of water mixed with 100g DME will yield a wort with a gravity of around 1.037.

 

[ResumeMan]

Actually, SpeedYellow has it right.

1 liter of water mixed with 100g DME will yield a wort with a gravity of around 1.037.

That may well be, but it won't be a 1L starter, it will be somewhat larger than that. And if you have a 1000 ml flask, it may be getting awfully full with that formulation.

 

[kh54s10]

That may well be, but it won't be a 1L starter, it will be somewhat larger than that. And if you have a 1000 ml flask, it may be getting awfully full with that formulation.

You're picking nits here.
Measure 1 liter of water add 100 grams of dme. Who cares if you now have 1.05 Liters?? And if that fills your 1 liter flask - get a 2 liter. IMO 1 liter flasks are for .75 liter starters max. I never go larger than 1.5 liters in my 2L flask.

 

[Sulli]

...or just pour a little out of the flask before pitching the yeast in.

 

[ResumeMan]

You're picking nits here.

Well yeah - That's what I said the first time! ;-)

Just to be totally pedantic (sorry)

 

[BrotherGrim]

Without hi-jacking the thread, after the yeast starter is made, is it required to cold crash, decant, and then warm to temp for pitching? I have been reading some such stuff and cant find out for sure what should be done. I have searched everywhere for a comprehensive how to yeast starter, but have had no luck. I have always made a 1L (sorry, 1.05L or so) starter, added my yeast, normally 24 to 36 hours prior to brewing, then pitched the whole thing into my cooled wort.

Does anybody know of a complete how to?

 

[kh54s10]

Just to be totally pedantic (sorry),

You're picking nits here.

Well yeah - That's what I said the first time! ;-)

Pedantic is not in my normal vocabulary and I didn't take the time to look it up!

Still, I don't even measure out my starters all that accurately and I have been having great success.

 

[KuntzBrewing]

Without hi-jacking the thread, after the yeast starter is made, is it required to cold crash, decant, and then warm to temp for pitching? I have been reading some such stuff and cant find out for sure what should be done. I have searched everywhere for a comprehensive how to yeast starter, but have had no luck. I have always made a 1L (sorry, 1.05L or so) starter, added my yeast, normally 24 to 36 hours prior to brewing, then pitched the whole thing into my cooled wort.

Does anybody know of a complete how to?

Both ways are accepted. I just don't like the idea of having weak unhopped beer (generally I make a 2L starter so about a half gallon extra) added to my fermentor. Now how much it effects the taste is questionable but still I don't like the idea, so I decant for 2 days or until the starter looks clear, then I decant swirl and dump directly into the fermentor (without warming the yeast back up). The yeast don't go dormant that quick and my fermentation starts within a few hours. Oh and I usually forget my stir bar no matter how many times I say I wont. (I'm convinced it makes the yeast feel a little more comfortable)

 

[BrotherGrim]

Thanks for the feedback. I normally have good starts as well, but my starters are normally going wide open when I pitch. I think I might try the decant method.

Learning a new trick to prove I'm not an old dog.

 

[FlyDoctor]

I think if you are below 2L of starter wort, it's ok to just pitch the thing into 5g,batch. If you can crash and decant, I would do it though, but if your pressed for time just go for it if your less than 2L or so.

 

[Sulli]

Just to be totally pedantic (sorry), it actually means 1 L total volume containing 100g DME Since the extract takes up some volume, the amount of water will actually be somewhat less than 1 L.

So I was re-reading Chris White's 'Yeast' book today; and at the bottom of page 133, he describes the measurements for a starter:

"The easiest way to make small batches of starter wort is with metric measurements, using a 10 to 1 ratio. Add 1 gram of DME for every 10 milliliters of final wort volume. For example, to make 2 liters of starter wort, add water to 200 grams of DME until you have 2 liters total volume."​

So I decided to test this by making a starter exactly as described.

Guess what... the specific gravity was exactly 1.040.

Therefore, as I also lean towards pedanticism, I wish to verify that ResumeMan's statement above is completely accurate.

Cheers!

 

[kh54s10]

So I was re-reading Chris White's 'Yeast' book today; and at the bottom of page 133, he describes the measurements for a starter:

"The easiest way to make small batches of starter wort is with metric measurements, using a 10 to 1 ratio. Add 1 gram of DME for every 10 milliliters of final wort volume. For example, to make 2 liters of starter wort, add water to 200 grams of DME until you have 2 liters total volume."​

So I decided to test this by making a starter exactly as described.

Guess what... the specific gravity was exactly 1.040.

Therefore, as I also lean towards pedanticism, I wish to verify that ResumeMan's statement above is completely accurate.

Cheers!

Cool.

For me I don't think my yeast are choosy enough that they won't do their thing if the wort is 1.038 or 1.042. So, I will continue to be semi-accurate.

 

[Sulli]

Cool.

For me I don't think my yeast are choosy enough that they won't do their thing if the wort is 1.038 or 1.042. So, I will continue to be semi-accurate.

I hear ya, and I agree. (I was mostly joking about the pedantic thing.)

I do, however, like the idea of adding the water to the DME, rather than the other way around though. Especially when using a yeast calculator (speaking of pedantic). The calculations used in YeastCalc are, after all, based on the data in Chris White's book, and since yeast calculator's can be off by as much as +/- ~30 billion as it is, why not make the starter volume as accurate as possible to help reduce some of the variables already inherent in the calculations.

Just some thoughts from a (semi)pedantic beer geek.

 

[SpeedYellow]

Interesting (pedantic) discussion. In the big picture, it makes no difference either way. Either way, you're using the same amount of DME -- the only difference is maybe 100mL water, which has no real significant impact on anything. But thanks Sulli for taking the measurements and clarifying!

 

[Sulli]

^ Absholutely