yeast starters

[unfermentable]

I've been doing yeast starters for a while, but now am going to jump into a lager. knowing i have to have high cell counts and need to pitch a big starter I am concerned about dumping a i gallon starter into a 10 gallon batch. I know i need to just pitch the slurry but how?

1) do I still step up my starters from 500 ml to 2000 ml to 4000 ml?
2) Do i actually let it ferment out and drop to do so?
3) do I cold crash the starter to drop it?
help......

I've read jamils stuff but I am a simple minded being and need it explained like "Yeast Starters for Dummies".

[Pseudolus]

Step up as you usually do. Do this as many times as you need to to get the total amount of yeast you want to have. Let the last step ferment all the way out. Then put the whole dang thing in the fridge. After a few days the yeast should all be at the bottom and the beer on top should be pretty clear.

When you're ready to pitch (ideally, just a couple days after fridging your starter), gently pour off most of the starter beer, leaving just enough liquid in there so that you can swirl up all the flocc'd out yeast and pour that slurry into your fermenter.

At least that's how I do it.

[TMB]

Check www.MrMalty.com for pitching rates. I would pitch cold with my starter at full Kruesen.

Cheers

[slanted & enchanted]

i never mess with starters anymore. too much of a hassle. i'll just brew a really low OG beer and pitch one or two smack packs in it. then i'll brew again in two weeks and just dump the wort on the cake (or part of it). after that first beer you can pretty much brew any gravity because you'll have so much healthy yeast. it's basically a big starter, but you can DRINK it. much more worthwhile for me.

the only drawback is that you should brew 3-4 beers with the same yeast before starting over again, just to make it worth your while. so you sort of have to schedule it all out. right now though i have a lager strain and a british ale strain going. probably start some 1056 soon. that's really about all i use anyway. oh yeah, listening to jamil's wiezenbock show got me interested in doing that, so i guess i better do a quick hefe soon.

[filmlabrat]

Word of warning about starters. Don't be as stupid as I was!!!

I've been using starters for almost 10 years now. I buy 25 pound buckets of DME for them.

In the last few years I've had a problem with a stubborn off flavor that was often present. It was below the flavor threshold for many people, but it really bothered me. It was always the same off flavor, not a variety. I tried all sorts of things to solve the problem, but nothing worked. It caused me to not brew very much for several years.

Finally, it dawned on me, perhaps my DME was stale! After all, it was perhaps 4 years old!!! I had been adding the starter to the wort at full krausen, just pitching the whole flask. The resulting yeast vigor was great, always starting quickly and attenuating well. The last few batches, I have cold crashed the yeast and decanted the liquid before adding to the wort. Guess what, no off flavor!

So the moral is, unless you know that your starter base wort is great, don't pitch without removing the beer topper. Better yet, always decant, just to be sure!

[Junket]

I agree regarding the decant method. I usually do 2 liter starters, and I used to pitch the whole starter at kraeusen. But lately I have been waiting a few days longer (in other words, I've been making my starters a few days earlier) and have pitched starters that are past peak fermentation. I'll put the flask in the fridge on brewday morning to encourage the active yeast to drop down a little. When I'm ready to pitch, I'll decant some of the starter to a pint glass and some down the drain, taste it for any problems, then swirl the rest of the starter and pitch into my wort. I have not noticed any increases in lag time or any problems such as decreased attenuation. I never liked the idea of pitching so much starter beer, and now I'm confident that I don't need to.

[Koop]

I agree regarding the decant method. I usually do 2 liter starters, and I used to pitch the whole starter at kraeusen. But lately I have been waiting a few days longer (in other words, I've been making my starters a few days earlier) and have pitched starters that are past peak fermentation. I'll put the flask in the fridge on brewday morning to encourage the active yeast to drop down a little. When I'm ready to pitch, I'll decant some of the starter to a pint glass and some down the drain, taste it for any problems, then swirl the rest of the starter and pitch into my wort. I have not noticed any increases in lag time or any problems such as decreased attenuation. I never liked the idea of pitching so much starter beer, and now I'm confident that I don't need to.

Do you let the starter warm up to room temp (or close to the wort temp) or do you pitch cold starter into the wort?

[Mylo]

Do you let the starter warm up to room temp (or close to the wort temp) or do you pitch cold starter into the wort?

After the crash cooling, I let my starter slowly come up to pitching temp. My personal opinion is that any stress on the yeast will cause them to produce off flavors and/or affect overall attenuation. I always try to get my slurry (if I decant) or full starter as close to the same temp as my wort - as reasonable effort will allow. If I am off a few degrees one way or the other I don't stress out about it. My yeasty friends won't be, why should I?


Mylo