yeast starter

[brewers droop]

hi all ive just done my second kit (a coopers euro) with saflager yeast and i had a right carry on with the yeasy clumping up, ive read a few threads on yeast starters but im a bit confused about 'pitching' and whether i make it with water or wort , on the day i make my brew or 24hrs before any help clearing this up would be very much appreciated, also please bare in mind im not the brightest button

[Denis of Stoke]

I normally tip the contents of the yeast sachet into a sterilised mug containing warm water (approx 25 degrees) about 40mins before making up the wort, then just tip it in the FV. Works every time.

[brewers droop]

what about sugar in the starter?

[Jerry Cornelius]

Yeast starters I've never made, but they are made up with wort. They can take from several hours to a day or so to be ready (so I believe).

I just re-hydrate the yeast, which takes about half an hour to an hour.

Clean and sterilise a pyrex jug, and a thermometer. (Maybe the sterlisation is not strictly necessary, because you're going to pour boiling water in it).
Boil up some water, and pour 150 ml into the jug.

Cover with kitchen foil and put into cold water to cool it down.

When it's below 30 C, sprinkle on the yeast and give it a gentle stir (sterilise the spoon) or just kind of rotate the jar a little.

After half an hour or so, you should start to see the yeast form a little dome in the jar, like this:-

Rehydrated Yeast small.jpg (132.56 KiB) Viewed 358 times

If you don't, then the yeast is no good and you need to do it again with fresh yeast...

[brewers droop]

so just re-hydrating the yeast with water before adding it to the wort would reduce the clumping and help to get the fermenting process going