starters

[SoCal Surfer]

Ok. I had this old vial of yeast and made a 500 ml starter to try and bring it back to life. It expired in March. Now, I'm hoping it takes off and get's going. It's on a stir plate with a foil top. I don't like to use stoplocks on my starters because I want the increased gas exchange. I've never made starters bigger than this and was wondering what container you use for this. I only have 1 liter erlenmeyers.

I am sort of using this for practice to make a 2 L starter for a bock. Now per the Mr. Malty calculator, I would need a few vials to get my shit happening. Do I need this if I go up in steps?
=D

[SoCal Surfer]

Wait a minute. I was looking at the Mr. Maltytacular pitching rate calculator and when I changed from simple starter to stir plate, it went from 4.07 to 1.52 LITERS OF STARTER! WTH is this all about? Does a stir bar make that much difference? Holy crap!

[whiterussian]

Yes, stir plate makes a big difference, because it keeps the yeast in suspension the whole time, giving it uninhibited access to the sugar and nutrients.

You say that you've never made starters larger than 500 ml? How big are your batches? My starters are usually 1L or larger (which is what Mr Malty yeast calc gives for 1.050 OG/5 gallon wort with stir plate).

[SoCal Surfer]

5 gallons. I better step my shit up more. I've always made starters of this size. Habit for umteen years. I'll work on that!