I am buying LFB Bridge Burner, The number 8, and Waldo Lake amber ale AG kits.
These all need a yeast starter. I was wondering if I need to make it 1-3 days ahead
using a DME or could I just add the yeast to 2 liters of the wort after my boil and
pour back in couple hours later. I also have a question about using a stir plate.
Do you leave it running the whole time you’re making a starter or intermittently.
These will be #'s 2,3, and 4 AG kits for me.
Starters take more than a few hours to ferment out. I usually give them at least 24hrs as long as I see active fermentation within the first 12. And yes, keep it on the stir plate the entire time.
My normal procedure for a starter depends on the OG of the beer and age of the yeast. If it’s an average gravity beer (1.050-1.060) and the yeast is pretty new (1-3weeks old) I make the appropriate sized starter usually about 1L, let it sit on the stir plate for about 24hrs and pitch the entire starter into the wort.
For stronger beers or older yeast that need a bigger starter, I’ll let the starter sit on the stir plate for 36hrs and then cold crash it in the fridge for 36hrs and decant the spent wort before pitching just the yeast.
For really big beers, really old yeast or lagers, I’ll make a 1L starter, ferment for 24hrs, cold crash for 24-36hrs, decant the spent wort and then make a 2L starter and begin the process all over again up to about a 1 gallon starter if necessary. If I need a starter bigger than 1 gallon, I just brew a low to medium OG big, collect the yeast and use all of it for a much stronger beer.
You can do that, but I’d pitch at high krausen, which will probably be more like 12 hours later.
I don’t know that I’d use a stir plate though. Even if it’s only ~10% of the wort, I’d worry about oxidation.
Noonan said that yeast will bud in 2 to 6 hours. That is enough for most starters. It’s low krausen. I think JZ said he pitches at about 8 hours.
Thanks guys, time to place my order
Last weekend I brewed with Wyeast 1272; it was almost 8 weeks old. I smacked it on wednesday night and it was fully swollen in the morning. Friday afternoon I made a 1 quart starter. I decanted most of the liquid and pitched the yeast into three gallons @ 1.051 sunday at 3 pm, I had airlock activity when I checked it 4 hours later.
High or low krausen has never been much of a concern for me. I leave mine on the stir plate for a full 24 hours (for each step that I do), then cold crash for 12-24, depending only on what time I actually get to start brewing. I decant the wort as my first brewing step and let the yeast come to room temperature while I brew. There’s never been a time that I didn’t see significant airlock activity within 4-6 hours of pitching.
The last brew day got delayed for an entire week and the starter was cold crashing the whole time, yet it still reacted just as quickly when warmed and pitched.
The OG for these AG kits are 1.091,1.084, and 1.063. I was
just going to use the yeast that came with them. I thought
I would do 2L starters for these. Does this seem alright?
That should be fine for the 1.063 beer, but for the higher-gravity ones the calculators are going to recommend larger starters. I doubt you’ll have problems, though.
http://mrmalty.com/calc/calc.htmlThanks guys, I’m feeling pretty confident about doing starters. Sure wish a few of
you guys lived nearby. I have a question about a yeast cake that I’m sure that you’ll
be able to help me with.
In a couple of days I hope to be kegging a BPA that will have a us-05 yeast cake. Next
Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday I will be brewing a BW ale (1.091og) that uses us-05 yeast.
I will be washing it and keep it in the fridge for 4-5 days. Will this yeast cake be enough
of a starter or do I need to step it up?
Can one add too much yeast to a wort?
[quote]Will this yeast cake be enough
of a starter or do I need to step it up?
Can one add too much yeast to a wort?[/quote]
A whole cake, 4-5 days old, into your BW will be enough without a starter.
It’s possible to overpitch but it’s hard to do.
A whole cake usually has 700-800 billion cells. Common practice it to let the culture grow to 3-5 times the pitched amount. It’s mostly about the longevity of the culture. If you use high pitch rates and repitch many times you end up with a population of older cells because of the poor growth phase. I don’t think Mr. Malty cares about that much, and besides repitching form a barley wine is not a good idea anyway.
Thanks for the confirmation, I thought that might work after looking at posts and
the informative answers to given to them.
