I want to start my next batch (brewing woot!stout) and I bought the yeast starter kit. I don’t have a stir plate, so I’ll be doing some manual agitation.
Anyway, how soon can I use the starter? Also, if I can’t start my batch right away, how long will the starter last?
This is a high alcohol beer, so I want to make sure I get a good starter going.
Thanks,
Tony
After reading some other posts, I’m wondering if I shouldn’t just brew something else and use the yeast from that batch for the woot!stout.
You could do that. I love just pouring new wort onto a fresh yeast cake. I usually pour out about 1/3 of the yeast cake unless it’s a really high gravity beer or lager that I’m brewing. Then I’ll just use the whole cake.
For the swirl method figure 24-48 hours for a starter to finish, then 12-24 to chill so you can decant before pitching. Having said that it depends on the starter size amount and viability of the yeast etc.
Do what gets you brewing faster!
Personally, I’d rather brew 5 gals of drinkable starter than a liter or 2 that get’s poured out!
[quote=“dannyboy58”]
Personally, I’d rather brew 5 gals of drinkable starter than a liter or 2 that get’s poured out![/quote]
Good point! I think I’ll stick with doing a starter with the kit I bought. In one of the videos, I see them go through the process twice to increase the yeast cells. I’ll probably do that. Wish me luck!
Tony
There’s another school of thought out there that you can just pitch your starter while it’s actively fermenting.
I pitched a 2L starter of yeast into an Irish Red 24 hours after I made the starter. I just dumped the entire thing in. I didn’t bother to chill and decant. I don’t think a little less than 2L of starter wort will change the taste of the 5 gallons of beer I have, but some will disagree.
The brew I made before that (a heavier Christmas Ale), I did a starter and a step up, then waited, then chilled and decanted before pitching. I’m just a fan of trying different things out and finding what works and what is easier (as long as it still works). Both methods worked just fine and I had fermentation in less than 12 hours.
Use this calculator to determine if you need to do a step up or not:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/yeast-pitc ... alculator/Depending on quite a few things, you may not necessarily NEED to do a step-up. Or, you may need to do a couple.
Ironically I just did the same thing with my Irish Red. I bottle harvested from some Southern Tier Live (not sure what strain) and did an initial starter and stored in my fridge for the past few months. 24hrs before brewday I created a started and let it go to town. I just tossed it in and didn’t bother to decant or chill either. Within 5-6 hours saw activity and now 2.5 days later it’s still going to town.
I have harvested and pitched others straight from the collected yeast after letting it warm to room temps and created starters and not sure if I’ve seen a lot of difference in activation time and total efficiency.
[quote=“Templar”]
Use this calculator to determine if you need to do a step up or not:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/yeast-pitc ... alculator/Depending on quite a few things, you may not necessarily NEED to do a step-up. Or, you may need to do a couple.[/quote]
I never did use the calculator, but based on the OG of this brew, I decided to go ahead and do a two stage.
I just looked at the calculator, and if my yeast pack was young enough, I could have gotten away with a single stage starter. I don’t recall the date on the pack, so it might have been a good idea to go two stage.
Anyway, it worked well. Had a long, active but not aggressive fermentation. I pitched on Jan 26th. Racked to secondary on Feb 17th.
Learning a lot as I go along here. Finding that the science can be as precise as you want it, but it is fairly forgiving, thank God.
Tony
