Should the gravity of the starter match gravity of wort?
(it seems like most starter recipes call for something around 1.040, but doesn’t this prepare your yeast for the wrong gravity environment if your OG is 1.070?)
Also, does it matter what type of extract you use to make the starter?
the purpose for a starter is to grow a healthy amount of cells for the OG and batch size - not acclimate the yeast to a high sugar environment.
A starter should be 1.040 or slightly below for any gravity batch. Although some starters need to be bigger (in volume) than others, and some need to be stepped up. To see the size of the starter you need for your next batch, http://www.mrmalty.com has an awesome yeast pitching rate calculator.
IME, light or extra light extract will be the best choice for a starter.
[quote=“S.Scoggin”]the purpose for a starter is to grow a healthy amount of cells for the OG and batch size - not acclimate the yeast to a high sugar environment.
A starter should be 1.040 or slightly below for any gravity batch. Although some starters need to be bigger (in volume) than others, and some need to be stepped up. To see the size of the starter you need for your next batch, http://www.mrmalty.com has an awesome yeast pitching rate calculator.
IME, light or extra light extract will be the best choice for a starter.[/quote]
Here is another calculator I like to use. Both will work. Both sites also have good reading material. http://yeastcalc.com/
