Hey everyone, doing my first yeast starter on Monday. Got punch Ryan in the face or something like that kit, which calls for a yeast starter. My plan was to start the yeast starter Monday night, swirl until Tuesday, throw in the fridge, decant on Saturday which is brew day. Just getting mixed signals about starting so early. I have the yeast starter kit from NB for what it is worth. Thanks.
Hank
I would let it sit out until Wednesday night or Thursday morning. Then set it in the refrigerator til you are ready to pitch.
Let it ferment longer before putting in fridge. 24-48 hours in fridge works great for me.
Agreed. Without a stir plate I’d plan on 5 days for fermentation and 2 days in the fridge.
Good stuff guys, thank you as always.
Quick follow-up question, after the two days in the fridge, how long should the yeast sit at room temp before pitching? Also in the fridge is tin foil the route to go with a rubberband to seal the top of the starter? Thank you.
Leave the starter in the fridge until you are ready to pitch. Any means of covering the opening is fine. I have used screw caps, foam stoppers, and foil.
Sweet, thanks again.
No time at all. Take it out, decant and pitch. There’s some evidence that promotes healthier yeast and a better fermentation. I’ve been doing it that way for years with great results.
^^ This
I’ve taken it out to warm up, and the yeast will start to rise again. Defeats the purpose of cold-crashing.
Hey guys, so made my yeast starter Saturday night, swirling everytime I see it on the counter since I don’t have a stir plate. There appears to be a good amount of yeast on the bottom of the glass container, although the color of the liquid is still an amber hue. When do I know that the yeast is good to put in the fridge? Initially I was going to wait 5 days as per this thread. Thanks.
When it starts to separate on its own and get clear at the top, it is time to cold crash
I use the swirl method also. Depending on the size of the starter, the age of the yeast, and the temperature, you can see varying times. I will allow my 1L-2.5L starters to go 3 days and crash 2, my larger 4L starters go 5 or 6 days and crash for 2. My larger starters are usually using some old harvested yeast so they need a little more time to finish up since I’m pitching 10-20B cells as opposed to 100B cells from a smack pack.
A good indicator, like 560 says, is when the yeast begin to flocc out and the top clears. Another is when you swirl you get no more gas escaping. This means they’re done eating.
FYI the yeast do not need to fully attenuate the starter. You want them in a nice sugary, oxygen rich environment to reproduce but you could crash the starter before they’ve actually finished fermenting.
Thank you as always guys. Starting to see signs that the yeast is done. No issues if it is the fridge longer than 2 days, right? Most likely put the starter in the fridge tomorrow and brew Monday night.
Quite all right.
Don’t go more than a few weeks though.
So I was going to make a starter for brewing Sunday afternoon. I misread something somewhere and thought it only took a couple of days. Is it too late if I smack the pack tonight and make it tomorrow? (sounds like it is).
No stir plate, first time making a starter actually.
Thanks~
Smack it tonight and make starter tonight. No need to let it expand. Brew Sunday.
Excellent thought! (that i should have had myself)
Also realized after I smacked it. I got NeoBritania instead of Denny’s Fav. Crud, but since this warmer has base LME of Maris and some other english malts. Hoping it should be okay. Sheesh!
every time you walk by the starter give is a swirl.
