Yeast starter routine

Getting my fast pitch today. Going to get a starter going for the weekend. Are you guys warming the yeast for a few hours or an hour or so before pitching into starter. Then if you cold crash and decant how long are you letting it warm up before using on brew day? I wanted to just pitch starter while at room temp but didnt want to pour all the liquid into fermenter.

I let the yeast sit at room temp for an hour or two before pitching into the fast pitch. I typically do this the night before brewing and spin it up for 18 hours or so. As fast pitch has been out of stock for almost a year, it’s been a while since I’ve used it but I’ve got a 4 pack downstairs now waiting for my next brew day.

:beers:
Rad

Are you in the cold crash and decant or pitch whole starter. I could see being worried about a larger starter but 1L isnt much. Think Brulosphy did an exbeeriment with pitching whole starter vs cold crashing and decanting most of liquid. I’m trying to avoid the cool down and re warming before pitching on brew day.

I pitch the whole starter, no issues so far. I do the SNSYS.

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So I’ll brew this W/E also. Tomorrow before work, the yeast I’ve saved come out of the fridge. When I get home, I’ll make a starter… 3/4 cup of DME to 1 quart water…( I’ll heat my water til it starts to boil, then turn off the burner, don’t remove the pan, then, add the DME and cover) Before I go to bed, it is usually about room temp, time to decant most the beer cap, then shake up the yeast and decant to the starter in a a flask and shake the living bejesus’s into it! And do shake it vehemently whenever you go by it. Whether I go brew Saturday or Sunday, its still viable and my brews take off quickly. I do 10 gallon brews too! Sneezles61

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What size starter and size container are you using? I was thinking about using a half gallon ball jar but forgot about that method. I should probably just use at least a gallon jug for 1L and just shake it until it’s full of foam.

One quart of starter wort in a sanitized plastic jug, shaken until it is primarily foam. A 4:1 ratio of starter vessel to starter wort is optimal.
Here: Old Dog...New Tricks | Experimental Homebrewing

Has anyone tried imperial yeast yet? I made a kolsch on Saturday and did a direct pitch, supposedly it fine to do from fridge to wort. It ramped up to 67 degrees for one day and is now sitting at 58 in my extra room. Got a 3 inch krausen ring in the fermenter so I’m assuming it did its initial fermentation within that 24 hours or so.

Me take a few hours before pitch out of the fridge. Got rid of the first part of the starter let it warm up and pitch me cold crash and decant.

SNS in a 1 gallon jar. I do both, cold crash and decant or take it from the counter and pitch the whole kit and kaboodle. Depends on how lazy and/or forgetful I am. :smirk:

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No cold crash, yes warm up.

Yeast is out of the fridge! Sneezles61
AW, cheeze whizz… I’m out of DME ! I’ll have to do a mini mash tonight… :disappointed:

Pulled mine out around 5:30 as well to make a starter this morning. Fast pitch was super easy. Just pitched the yeast. We will see how it does. I didn’t think about it but I should have checked the gravity of it with my refractometer. Would have been nice to now where it was at. Should be 1.040 per instructions on can.

I’ve never cold crashed my starters and haven’t noticed any issues yet! Just pitch the whole dang thing.

Lately(past year or two) I’ve been pitching what’s known as a ‘vitality starter’. Got the idea from Denny who based it on some research by a ‘yeast guy’. The details are on his website. I start it going about 24-36 hours before brewing and pitch at high krausen stage. There’s very minimal lag time as the yeast are very active. If I want to build up a bigger yeast count than usual (high gravity or lagers) then I might start it a week ahead and let it go to completion before storing in the fridge. Then I restart it as described above before brewing day.

And now that I actually read through the whole thread, I see that voodoo, radagast and sneezles all do something similar. So, I feel I’m in good company! :wink:

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Normally use dry yeast or wyeast. Used white labs after changed packaging to pure pitch pouch a couple times. I didnt realize there is a pouch inside outer layer that you can slide out if you carefully cut at top seam of outer package. I figured it was part of outer package.

Probably common knowledge that I didnt know. Anyways yeast starter is looking good. Should be around 36 hrs when I pitch tonight after brewing.

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Going to do a mead with 5# of honey and Wyeyeast 1388. Got the yeast on the counter to begin the starter(s). First time around doing mead.

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I’ve been doing this recently too. It kind of flies in the face of the conventional wisdom I’ve gone by for starters in the past but it does seem to work well and definitely shortens fermentation lag time at lower temps.

So be careful bragging about the company you keep. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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I’ve been doing the shaken not stirred starter for about 3 years. Works very well. The only time I use a stir plate is if I’m culturing from dregs.