yeast starters and pitching

[brewshki]

As a brand new brewer, the one almost constant piece of advice I have gotten is to read, especially how to brew by john palmer. serendipitously, i was given the book along with my mr. beer kit. (yes yes i know what you are all saying but i am 21 and a student who is not looking to spend money on an upgrade yet) i have been obsessed with the book and have been reading it almost religiously. when i got to the chapter about yeast, it added a whole lot more questions. I have already altered my approach for my next batch and i am building a temp controlled rig so my fermenting beer can escape my 80 degree southern california house.

my biggest question is about yeast starters and pitching. is pitching simply adding the yeast to the wort? are yeast starters really necessary? i use the dry yeast that come with the refills from mr. beer (again, it was a very extensive present and I'm not buying anything until at least these are gone) and from what i have read, dry yeast typically has more yeast cells in it. is this process just to up the cell count so it has a better chance? with my first batch, after about two weeks i tasted it and it tasted like warm flat beer but beer. do i need to go through the process of adding extract and making the yeast its own wort to sit in or is rehydrating in sufficient?

Thanks!

 

[kaconga]

When using dry yeast you simply need to rehydrate it per manufacturer directions... usually. Sometimes the directions are not the ideal use of the yeast (like US-05). In those instances just follow the rehydration procedures in how to brew.

Yeast starters become necessary when using liquid yeast and/or larger amounts of beer and/or higher gravity brews. Also "pitching" is just a fancy term for adding yeast. As with most things, homebrewing has its own special jargon.

 

[brewshki]

When using dry yeast you simply need to rehydrate it per manufacturer directions... usually. Sometimes the directions are not the ideal use of the yeast (like US-05). In those instances just follow the rehydration procedures in how to brew.

Yeast starters become necessary when using liquid yeast and/or larger amounts of beer and/or higher gravity brews. Also "pitching" is just a fancy term for adding yeast. As with most things, homebrewing has its own special jargon.

So if i were to get to the point of 5 gallon batches it would be more necessary?

 

[dkeller12]

So if i were to get to the point of 5 gallon batches it would be more necessary?

Not unless you use liquid yeast. Dry yeast doesn't require a yeast starter and you can ferment 5 gallons of beer with one 11.5 gram dry yeast pack. If you choose to go with liquid yeast, it is best to make a starter to build up the cell count. Wyeast smack packs can be pitched as is and will do the job but you can run into issues if the yeast count is too low, especially if the date on the yeast pack is old.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

once you get into the gravity and ibu stages of recipes you need to pay attention more, so under 1050 you can use one dry pack but over you might need 2 .... or 1 pack with a good starter, its not complicated just allot to digest at one time so be patient and ask questions