Yeast starter

[Hitz87]

I was going to make a yeast starter for my bohemian lager yeast. I found some extra time to brew today but didn't make a starter. Should I still make a starter or just dump the smack pack in the fermenter? It is a 3 gallon batch so I wonder if a starter is necessary. My recipe is a Munich Dunkel.


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[freisste]

Run your numbers through mrmalty.com or yeastcalc.com to be sure. Depends on gravity, size, yeast manufacture date, and beer type. The fact that this is a lager would make me guess that to get to optimal pitch rates you WILL need a starter.

That being said, you will end up with beer just dumping in the smack pack. But best practice would be to make a starter.

 

[AWNbrewer]

Since the brew is already brewed I say just pitch the yeast as is, well after you smack it around a bit. I like to make yeast starters with a yeast nutrient for pretty much every batch I brew, because it's a mini batch of beer and I make my own stir plate. Brag brag. So really I get to brew twice!! Worst case scenario I can think of would be a stuck fermentation and not reaching your fg. Relax have a homebrew


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[Hitz87]

I actually am waiting to brew now made a starter. I guess since I am needing lager temps the yeast calc says I need 230 billion, it recommends a two step starter... Hopefully I did it right did two cup water with half cup dme boiled and cooled then enough bottled water to bring to 1 L then smack pack and foiled in a 1 gallon jug everything sanitized does that sound right?


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[asterix404]

Lagers need starters. This is why liquid yeast with lagers is so terrible for the normal home brewer that I would never recommend doing it. What you want to do is pitch 2 or 3 packs of yeast with a 2 or 3L starter. Alternatively you get 2 packets of try saflager yeast and pitch those. We all make this mistake. I have found nothing but trouble with liquid staters and liquid lager yeasts. If you have a starter all made, I would pitch what you got and throw in some S23. Your liquid yeast profile will dominate since s23 ferments extremely clean.

Once Mr. Malty told me to pitch 2.5G of starter and I laughed. You get great beer all the time underpitching, but lagers you can't underpitch by that much which is why dry yeast is the way to go. Also, do not save and crop lager yeast cakes. That stuff is notoriously contaminated.

 

[freisste]

Lagers need starters. This is why liquid yeast with lagers is so terrible for the normal home brewer that I would never recommend doing it. What you want to do is pitch 2 or 3 packs of yeast with a 2 or 3L starter. Alternatively you get 2 packets of try saflager yeast and pitch those. We all make this mistake. I have found nothing but trouble with liquid staters and liquid lager yeasts. If you have a starter all made, I would pitch what you got and throw in some S23. Your liquid yeast profile will dominate since s23 ferments extremely clean.

Once Mr. Malty told me to pitch 2.5G of starter and I laughed. You get great beer all the time underpitching, but lagers you can't underpitch by that much which is why dry yeast is the way to go. Also, do not save and crop lager yeast cakes. That stuff is notoriously contaminated.

That's a pretty severe review. I'll admit that I am pretty new to lagers (only brewed one batch about a year ago), but it was one of the best beers I ever made. I did make sure to make a big starter, though.

While dry yeast is probably easier, there are fewer options. There is nothing wrong with liquid yeast. You just have to make an appropriate starter.

Also, the 2.5gal starter is not unbelievable, but it can be much more efficient to do a stepped starter vs a single starter.