Does this look right?
3 oz of DME in 1 L of water = 1.030 1L starter
6 oz of DME in 2 L of water = 1.030 2L starter
now for a lager of alt beer one may suggest a 3L starter; however, I like most of the free world do now own a 3L Erlenmeyer flask, so how would one do a 3L starter? Is it possible to make one in a 2L flask, but with more DME? Say 9 oz of DME in 2L of water?
100 grams of DME per liter of water
looks like I may have to splurge and buy a 3L flask… :shock:
You could just step the starter and do a 1.5-2 liter starter. I think there is a type-o above. Do you own a 2 or 3L erlenmeyer?
You can make a starter in any container that can be sanitized. Some boil their starter wort in a flask on the stove. This is not necessary. Boil and cool your starter wort in a kettle. Pour it into a large glass or plastic container and your starter is ready to go.
If you are using a stir plate the container will need a mostly flat bottom to keep the stir bar from being thrown.
Don’t waste your money. I use a gal. glass jug from apple juice. Only costs a few bucks and you get to drink (or ferment) the juice.
Being a mad scientist type, I prefer an Erlenmeyer flask. But that’s just me…
As long as you’re comfortable paying for image, not usability… 
It’s a luxury, no doubt, and it helps put me in my element. But there are advantages. Being made of Pyrex I don’t have to worry about sudden temperature changes cracking the vessel, I find the doughnut-shaped flask weight very useful when quickly cooling the starter wort to pitching temperature in an ice and water bath, the narrow neck makes it easy to swirl the contents of the flask with one hand and the very flat bottom enables efficient and consistent stir bar spin while the flask is on a stir plate…
I agree with Ken on some of the features of the flask. Unless you are fond of putting silicone (fermcap) in stuff you are consuming though, I have absolutely no use for the ‘putting the erlenmeyer directly on the stove (and resulting boilover)’ feature.
Well, it’s not like I haven’t used flasks. I switched from flask to jug becasue I didn’t find the flask to have those advantages for me.
Don’t waste your money. I use a gal. glass jug from apple juice. Only costs a few bucks and you get to drink (or ferment) the juice.[/quote]
+1
I have a few old flasks I use for storage, but for making starters, the juice jugs work great. I’ll sometimes even use gallon jars that originally contained kimchee or other pickles.
I have a 1L and a 2L Erlenmeyer Flask(s), and have used the 2L for a Munich Helles and a Kolsch in the past. It worked, surprisingly, but I would like to err on the side of caution going forward.
I saw the 4L flask is running around $75, and I really do not want to spend the money on that when I could use the same $75 to make approximately three batches of homebrew. :cheers:
The good news is I do two lagers and one Kolsch per year and never do high gravity ales. So, in this example, would it be fundamentally incorrect to pitch 2 lager/kolsch yeast vials/packs into a 1.5 L starter (made with 150 grams if DME)? I am assuming that would make a 3 L starter. Granted more cost in the long run, but using my brew schedule it would take 5 years to become cost effective to buy the 4L flask.
I like Denny’s idea of the apple juice bottle, but worry about putting that on the stir plate for 12 hrs while I am at work.
Why would you worry about leaving a glass jug on the stir plate? This is the container I use for starters when using the stir plate.
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/photo/album ... -8062.html@flars, thank you for providing the picture. I think my problem has been solved…
This forum is great :cheers:
Has never been a problem for me. And to size your starters, see www.mrmalty.com . It takes into account the age of the yeast and the OG of the beer.
Thanks for the MM site. I noticed that when fooling around with it, most of the time it was calling for a 2L starter.
Good stuff.
[quote=“andymag”]@denny
Thanks for the MM site. I noticed that when fooling around with it, most of the time it was calling for a 2L starter.
Good stuff.[/quote]
That will depend on the age of your yeast and the OG of the beer, but I do find that almost all of my starters are in the 2-3 qt. range.
