CRBrewHound wrote:From everything I have read and heard do not go for a proportion (even though there is an accepted standard for gravity points for DME) get your software out and mix for a specific gravity of 1.040 for starters.
Don't forget to aerate the wort, as O2 is required for the yeast growth.
Using the specific gravity you can make your starters out of what every you want (DME, LME, Table Sugar, Honey) as long as you know the sources gravity points. Also can build to what ever size starter you need easily for product gravity and batch size.
Wellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll...
Actually, the reason for propagating yeast in a malt-based medium is because they're lazy. If you give them simple sugars, they'll shut down the genes required for metabolism in a more complex media (aka wort). Then, when they're all propped up on simple sugars and you throw them into your fermenter, they will get PISSED.
Think about it like this: If for a year all you did was sit on a couch, watch tv, and eat cheeseburgers, how would you feel if all of a sudden there was only kale and beans to eat and you had to run 2 miles to get to it?
BN Army // 13th Mountain Division 
