I am preparing to brew in 4 days and will be using a Starter Yeast for the first time. I am brewing the Northy12 kit and plan to use Fast Pitch Canned Wort and Omega OYL-028 yeast. I will also be using a stir plate for the first time. Had a few questions:
Based on the Northern Brewer YouTube video I watched, I plan to use 1 can of the wort, 1 can of distilled water and 1 slap pack of the yeast in a 2000ml flask. Do I take the yeast out, slap the pack to activate it and then wait till it rises before adding it to the fast pitch wort? Do I use a pill in the flask on the stir plate?
How far in advance of brew day should I make the starter yeast?
How long do I leave the flask on the stir plate?
Do I chill the mixture before adding it to the cooled wort I brewed?
I use a 2 liter on stir plate as well. I use 1.3 liters of water with DME…yeah I do the boil and let it cool. I have not used fast pitch canned wort
I slap the pack and allow it to activate just as if I was pitching directly in beer. So yes wait for it to rise before pitching.
I do not know what you mean by question about using a pill in the flask
I personally would not use distilled water to dilute my wort as the minerals are needed to not cause yeast cell osmotic pressure cell wall rupture. I would boil the water to be added and let it cool. But do whatever norther brewer says…perhaps they adjust the fast pitch water chemistry in the can to take this into account.
I allow 2 days before brewing for a single round starter that you are doing (18+18+12 for frig=48
Palmer recommends 12-18 hours on stir plate then 12-18 hours off the stir plate. turning off stir plate allows for anaerobic growth in later stage.
Palmer hints that cooking in fridge over night allows the yeast to settle. I often skip this step when the yeast settles out by itself. I pitch my yeast at room temperature. If you refrigerate your yeast as palmer suggests, he says it does not need to warm the yeast up. He says pitching from warmer to colder put the yeast to sleep. I brewed this quad that your are brewing as all grain and I did not allow the yeast to cool to wort temp first and it worked fine.
As far as what else or anything you may have forgotten, plan on a blow off line. This yeast always blows off for me. When I brewed this I started around 64F and ramped temp up to 68 F in two days.
I deviated from NB instructions and added the candi syrup two days later after pitching yeast. I did this to take it easy on the yeast initially as its used to 1.04 gravity when pitched not the higher gravity you get by
adding the syrup at boil. The syrup is sanitized already in its package so this is not a problem. I did get a blow off after adding the syrup. Maybe next time I will add one pound day 2 then the other pound later.
My notes show I let this beer sit for almost a year before drinking. (I let it sit in keg). It was a good beer. As an aside, when I took a course at NB in milwaukee store, they had beers on tap to taste during course. The quad was the first keg kicked.
I think the pill he is referring to is the magnetic stir bar included with the stir plate. Sanitize the bar and put it in the starter wort when you are ready to place the flask on the stir plate.
Eventually you will figure out there are other ways to do a starter, but it’s good to figure out how to do a traditional starter on a stir plate.
@mikem thanks for taking the time respond with great notes. The Northy12 is only my second beer so I know it is slightly ambitious for some with almost no brewing skills. Eventually I will have more experience and better equipment…and a deep understanding of the ingredients. I was already planning on the blow off tube based on some other research I have done. I will be fermenting this in my basement which hovers around 68 most of the time.
No problem on being ambitious. My second beer was a Belgian strong beer which is similar to what you are brewing. I found the quad you are brewing better tasting. The Belgian strong had to sit for close to 2 years for it to taste better. Good choice on the northy by you.
The temperature of the wort will run higher than room temperature because the reaction catalyzed by the yeast is exothermic so wort runs 5-10 degrees hotter than room temp. I once measured 15 degrees delta T but not sure of that measurement as I was not using same measuring device for wort temp and air temp. With the yeast you are using, you should be fine as the top end is 78F.
Let the stir bar slide down gently to the bottom of your flask so as not to break the glass. Don’t let the stir bar fall in the fermenter like I did…blush. I am going to buy the stir bar removal tool next time I have to buy extra to get free shipping. Northern Brewer Yeast Stir Bar Removal Tool. You may already have one if you bought the maelstrom.
I do make it two or three days before brew day. Me dont use canned wort. But dme. I leave it in my stirplate. For 32 hours. After that i do transfer to mason jar. Cold crash. In fridge. On brew day take it out. Let it warm up. I do pour some of the liqued out. But you can pour the the whole yeast starter in your fermentor if you want. Be carefull. If you pour some liqued out. You want to safe the yeast. Before i pour my yeast. I swirl. Few times. So i toss everything in. Sometimes it seems to stick to the bottom of the mason jar.
I used stir plates and yeast calculators for years. Then I found this method. It’s faster, easier, and produces healthier yeast. I haven’t even seen my stir plate in over 6 years. Old Dog...New Tricks | Experimental Homebrewing
