Today, I got some yeast from a local brewpub. He told me to feed it a 1/4 cup of DME which I did. I pitched a 1/2 cup of slurry and now have a 1L starter on the stir plate. I’m wondering if I should add another liter of wort?
I’m brewing 10 gallons of an ale with an OG of 1.065.
TIA,
Mark
As you advance in your brewing skills and fermentation knowledge you’ll realize the yeast pitching rates are actually important. Your question is a good one and you should always ask this with each new recipie you brew. As for an easy answer, simply use Mr. Malty’s Pitching Rate Calculator (http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html). This tool is my goto method of caluculating my starter size.
Yeast health for propogation is one of the most overlooked aspects of the brewing process. Here are some tips:
Add a little yeast nutrient when you’re boiling the starter wort. This will give the yeast more than enough of the right ingredients for healthy growth.
You might consider also adding a small amount of hops to your starter wort. Hops act as a stabalizing element that keeps some less desirable flavor compounds from affecting the wort.
Don’t underpitch unless you’re willing to accept the risk that your stressed out and overworked yeast could create off-flavors.
Don’t overpitch unless you can control the fermentation temperature. As yeast propogate, the metabolism builds heat within the fermenter and before you know it is 5+ degrees above ambient temperature, which could produce unintended esters in your flavor profile.
Cheers,
Hopaholic
Mark,
What we don’t know is when you intend to brew. If you slurry you got is only a few days old and you intend to brew within a week of receiving it, I would follow the brewer’s advice and just feed it a little wort. With slurry that recent and healthy, you should be pitching plenty of yeast. If you are going longer than a week, probably best to make a full starter.
