Should I be making starters?

[NumbSkull]

Milt is convinced we should be making starters. I see a lot of people do it but so far we have not. I am afraid it makes one more place where you can do something wrong and screw up your yeast or your beer. Do you make starters for every batch or only some?

Mort

[Homegrown Hops]

Mort,
I have been in various degrees of anality when it comes to starters. When I started I never used a starter and never had a problem. I did find that when I made a big starter , my beer quality did improve. Fast fermentations, clearer beer, and better flavor profile. I can honestly say that I havent made a starter since I have been getting large amounts of free yeast charges from a local brewery. I work at another local brewery and only get free beer (bummer) not yeast.

I suggest possibly racking beer of a previous (similar)batch and pitching new (cooled) wort on top of the yeast cake and see what happens. If you like the results then consider a starter program for future brews.

HH

[eric_lord]

depends,
1. what is your volume you are brewing?
2. what is your BG?
3. what are you currently pitching, and what are the results?
4. dry or liquid?

dry yeast I don't, I have heard it can actually be bad to make a starter with dry yeast. Do, however hydrate.

I make starters for liquid, but only because I brew 12gl batches. If I were doing 5, I wouldn't waste my time. Unless the gravity was going to be above 1.060.

eric.

[Speyedr]

More importantly, you've made like 5 batches or less, right? My point is, get your brewing process down and get comfortable with it. Hit your numbers consistently and make the beer you intend to make. Once you are happy with that then you can start worrying about other crap like starters.
I'm just saying, don't over complicate the process. The reason to do starters is because you need to pitch the right amount of yeast for the gravity of the wort, but for most Ales you can stick to a smack pack or vial of yeast if it's a small beer (1.042 or less) and 2 packs or vials up to 1.055. More than 1.055 you can pitch 3 or you can look into starters.
As an FYI this is based on 100 billion cells per pack or vial, and http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html for info on amount of yeast for your wort gravity.

Rob

[Push Eject]

Mort, may I suggest the first two Jamil appearances on the BN. He has strong opinions about starters as does Brewcaster Jon.

Additionally, the Jamil show on Scottish ales gives you a way to grow a starter and end up with a beer in the process.

Here are the links:
http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/archive/dwnldarchive07-03-05.mp3
http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/archive/dwnldarchive09-04-05.mp3
http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/archive/Jamil10-09-06.mp3

Listen to them and decide for yourself my deer-plowing friend.

Cheers,
Push Eject

[NumbSkull]

We are going to be going ten gallon batches and I had figured on using a vial for each bucket. If I made a starter from one vial for two buckets how would I divvy it up for the two buckets?

Mort

[DannyW]

You will need a pretty big starter to split in two buckets - like around a gallon.

I use a gallon juice jug, fill it to maybe 4/5 full, and put it on a stir plate. Then when it's time to put the yeast in the buckets I do a very unscientific "that's about half" pour. If I'm feeling really careful that day, I might look at the jug before pitching, put my finger about halfway down, then pour in one bucket until I get to the finger. Then the rest goes in the other bucket.

I'm sure I'm underpitching, but it makes beer anyway.

[Homegrown Hops]

We are going to be going ten gallon batches and I had figured on using a vial for each bucket. If I made a starter from one vial for two buckets how would I divvy it up for the two buckets?

Mort

Mort, You are a resourceful sort, start looking around for some 1/2 bbl kegs. I am sure you will find a bounty somewhere, use them for fermenters and do all 10 gallons in one vessel. I am using 15.5 gal Sanke kegs with "spear" removed as fermenters. You will like this much better down the road, I promise you.

HH