Larger. 2nd ferment

Part of what you look for with yeast is the layers… It appears 3/4(.75 :grin:) of what I see in that jar looks darker and mixed with trub… That usually is mostly dead yeast… Now the next layer up looks a bit lighter… Thats better… Then that very thin creamy white layer is the yeast you want the most… See, thats why some peeps “wash” their yeast… They do there best to pour just that top creamy layer off… I tried that… I came to a conclusion its more of a chance to get an infection with all the extra handling… Sneezles61
PS: no stir plate needed… just shake it!!

Cool, I will make starter tomorrow then. Everything is sanitised and sealed with wrap.

I’m guessing that I need to take the yeast out of the fridge get to room tempature and add the starter at room tempature too?

Yeah I’m for England, so apologise for different measurements :slight_smile:

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1 L water to about 110ml of dry malt extract (lighter the better). With yeast slurry that fresh I personally would make the starter the night before you brew because it’s going to kick off and eat that starter quickly. No stir plate needed. Just swirl it occassionally before bed and during your brew session if you think of it. When you swirl it you’ll see foam develop on top.

When you’re ready to pitch just swirl it up good and pour the whole thing into your fresh chilled wort.

With yeast that fresh all you’re really doing is waking them up. In two days they’ll be back asleep again. With older saed slurry that’s been in the fridge for months it may take longer.

With slurry that fresh I would let it warm up and pitch a healthy amount and leave it at that. A starter really is mostly about building up a yeast count which your not worried about. If it was refridgerated for awhile I’d wake it up.

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Hi guys.

Made my starter, everything seemed to go to plan.

Quick question on the bung, I’ve read getting oxygen to the yeast is important, should I seal the starter with an air lock!

I simply cover mine with aluminum foil. Oxygen is important, but mostly when growing yeast. With your slurry being relatively fresh you are simply waking them up.

Also, I would consider a bigger starter vessel. That’s likely to blow off, especially if using an ale yeast. It WILL blow off if using a wheat strain like wy3068.

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Yes agreed! I’ll get a bigger vessel. It’s a Mutons Ale yeast…if I leave it open will to not blow off ?

Oh it will still overflow and you’ll have yeast all over. Er I heard that of course… :stuck_out_tongue:

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Thats a very nice looking starter right there! Your brew will take off rather quickly! I started mine a few days ago… Its still good to go! Tomorrow… Lager season begins for me! Sneezles61

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Cheers! What you planning to brew sneezles?

Find yourself a one gallon glass jug like an apple juice jug. I use those for 2L and smaller starters. I have a couple of 2 gallon plastic water jugs I use for 3-4L starters which I seldom do anymore.

Episode 49 of Denny and Drew’s experimental brewing podcast spends a good deal of time talking about starters. Definitely worth a listen. Experimental Brewing | Experimental Homebrewing

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An easy drinking lager… looking for about 5%…
Here my grain bill
10 lbs pils
11 lbs Marris Otter
12 oz C-120…
German Herkules to the boil… 1.25 oz
Didn’t have some noble hops, so at 120* F I dumped in 1 oz Amarillo and 1 oz Chinook… SG is 1.055…
German 830 whites lager yeast… Freez-mentor set at 53*F… Sneezles61

Nice little burps from the fermenters… I did under pitch… hence the lower Starting Gravity… Sneezles61

Guys thought I would share some updates, due to all your great help the Czech Pilsner is looking really good, moved to a secondary today. gravity is reading 1.012, so currently at 5%.

Tasted the sample, was really clean and crisp already, I’m going to be drooling for the next 4 weeks why it’s lagering!!

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One of the upsides…erm…i mean down sides to kegging is I have been known to start drinking my lagers fairly early in the cold conditioning phase…I brew 10 gals at a time so it’s interesting to see how the first keg evolves and improves over time…then when I tap the second keg it’s like…oh yea…this is why we lager

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I’ll check my gravity this W/E… If its close, I’ll set mine out, on top of the freeze-mentor to finish up…
I’ve got some Bioclear to try… Sneezles61

Hey everyone, hope all are well.

I’m planning to do my second lager in a series after harvesting my yeast from a previous Czech pilsner that I brewed on this post.

I’m going to be doing the same recipe Czech Pilsner as it tastes so damn good!!

Question I have is about my yeast starter.

How much DME do I need to use to make sure I have enough yeast present.

I am planing to use some spare amber DME. Would a 2L starter with 220g of DME be enough?

Cheers

You probably have enough yeast slurry so you won’t need a starter

It’s been in the fridge for a month though?

this is the harvest. That’s a 5L mason jar.