making a starter - did i do it right?

[AbacusBrewingCo]

so morebeer's 2000mL yeast starter kit says to use 8oz of dme with 1800 ml of water. are they referring to 8oz by weight or volume? I measured out 8oz by weight and i'm not sure if that gives me the right gravity, i'm still picking up on the math of it.

also, i'm using a stir plate, how long at minimum from pitching before i can pitch the starter into a batch? is 12 hours enough? if not, am i better to use 2 smackpacks or the starter?

[NervousDad]

That's going to be too much. 8 ounces will 226 grams. The easiest way to make a starter is using the 10:1 ratio 10 ml water for every gram of DME. so an 1800 ml started would require only 180 grams of DME.

18 to 24 hours would be the best.

[Whitebeard_Brewer]

so morebeer's 2000mL yeast starter kit says to use 8oz of dme with 1800 ml of water. are they referring to 8oz by weight or volume? I measured out 8oz by weight and i'm not sure if that gives me the right gravity, i'm still picking up on the math of it.

also, i'm using a stir plate, how long at minimum from pitching before i can pitch the starter into a batch? is 12 hours enough? if not, am i better to use 2 smackpacks or the starter?

I pitch my starters when they are at full krausen, which depends on the starter itself, how viable is the yeast, how active they are, temperature, etc. I've had starters on my plate for 2 hours when they have reached full krausen......let the yeast tell you when they are ready. You should be able to see the line where the krausen topped out, much like on a carboy....even on a stir plate.

[AbacusBrewingCo]

thanks guys, let's pretend i dont know what krausen is... how else can i tell? also, one more detail; i forgot to use yeast nutrient when pitching my yeast into the starter, is that a big deal or just a minor setback? as late as i'm starting brewing today it'll probably be about 14 hours, hopefully that isnt too short a time. how significant is it that i used an extra 46grams of dme? is that just going to affect my batch's OG, or will it hamper the starter in some significant way?

last, most important, question: should i use this starter given the missteps, or should i just use 2 smackpacks to get my cell count where i want it instead? i have the extra yeast packs on hand already, and don't mind counting the starter as a learning experience if it is less than ideal.

[Ozwald]

You should do it by weight for accuracy, but I highly, highly doubt the instructions are written for weight.

Starter gravity isn't as critical; if you're in the ballpark, you're fine. The easy way to remember a ~1.040 starter wort with DME... "Cup to a Quart".

[AbacusBrewingCo]

between 10ml:1g and 'cup to a quart' i think i'm set for future starters, thanks guys.

how about the one i have going now? should i use it in today's brew, at only 14 hours, or would i be better to use two smackpacks right out of the pack? if i don't use the starter i have in today's brew, could it be used to finish out the russian imperial stout i have that's stuck? (see: viewtopic.php?f=19&t=31588)

[AbacusBrewingCo]

so i wound up pitching a wyeast 1056 pack and half of the starter i made, 1000mL of 2000mL that was made with:
1800mL water
8oz (solid oz) of dme
one wyeast 1056 pack
14 hours of time on the stir plate at roughly 68degF
(no yeast nutrient was used)

my og wound up being 1.063. (morebeer's target for the kit is about 1.047, i'm a fair bit higher than projected even accounting for the dme added from the starter)


with that og, did i pitch enough total yeast? should i add another wyeast pack to be sure?

[AbacusBrewingCo]

looks like half of my starter + another pack was plenty of yeast, the carboy is going nuts, had a little bubbling on the surface at 15 hours, and by 15 1/2 hours the entire carboy was full of head and the blowoff is gurgling like crazy