Making an yeast starter

[PaulStat]

Is it necessary? Or just advisable?

And how do you make one?

[Whorst]

Pitching the correct number of cells is important. This calculator works very well. http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

I find that a 1 quart starter(1 quart water, 3.5oz. dme works) works fabulous.

[adm]

Is it necessary? Or just advisable?

And how do you make one?

Paul,

It depends on what yeast you are using. If you have a packet of dried yeast then there's no point. Although you can rehydrate the yeast in some cooled, boiled water prior to pitching it. 100ml of water per pack - make sure it's about 25C and is in a sterilised vessel. Sprinkle the yeast in, cover it up with cling film or foil, let it sit 20 mins or so, give it a good shake and chuck it in.

If you are using liquid yeast, then there's plenty of threads on here about making starters from that - and as Whorst says, Mr. Malty will help you out.

[PaulStat]

Ok so this time I'm brewing from liquid yeast, I have my DME and I know how to do it. The question is though since I'm going to be making a Leffe clone I'm using a Belgian yeast which from what I understand is quite distinctive, so I probably don't want to use it anything BUT a Belgian Ale?

[adm]

Are you having second thoughts about the Leffe clone?

You can probably use the yeast to make any beer you want - and it may or may not result in fantastic beer. Worst case is you'll just have a drinkable beer that's not strictly to any style!

Why not grow the starter a bit, split it, use half in the Leffe clone and then stick the other half in the fridge to use in something else just to see how it comes out?

[mysterio]

A starter is necessary for liquid yeast, sadly - they're manufactured in the states and they're not in great shape by the time they get here. If you're in the US then yes, you could probably get away with pitching a vial straight into a 5 US gallon batch of mid-gravity wort. A starter brings them back up to full vitality and makes sure you have enough cells, especially for a higher gravity beer like a leffe clone. If you dont do the starter, you risk off flavours, fusel alcohols (hangovers and nasty solvent flavours), sluggish fermentation, high terminal gravity (sweet, cloying beer). It's the single most important step to improving your beer, if you're using liquid yeast.

As adm says, dont bother with dried yeast, waste of time.

To make one, a rule of thumb is 100g of dried malt extract per L of water (use the mrmalty calc to check how much you need). Boil up the extract in a pot on the stove along with your water for 10-15 minutes to sanitize. Cool in the sink with cold water, once cool, decant into a suitable, sanitized container, pitch in the yeast, shake the hell out of it. Give it a shake every time you pass it and it should be ready to pitch into your main batch of beer in 2 days time. Be very careful with sanitation during all the steps!!

[steve_flack]

A starter is necessary for liquid yeast, sadly - they're manufactured in the states and they're not in great shape by the time they get here.

Curiously enough the Activator pack of 1469 I got was in unusually great condition. It was fully swelled four hours after smacking.

[PaulStat]

Nope I still plan to go ahead with the Leffe it's going to be one of my Christmas tipples

What vessel do you guys pitch your starter into? I managed to pick up a 1G demijohn this morning but this might be a bit of overkill.

Also am I right in saying that I don't want it to ferment out completely for the one I'm brewing soon? (Not sure I'll have time anyway as the ingredients are due to arrive tomorrow and the brew is planned for Saturday)

[mysterio]

I use a 1G demijohn. Just make sure you dont transfer hot liquids into it, they dont like sudden changes in temperature (i shattered two when I made my first starter).

You're right, you just want the yeast to get into a reproductive cycle, giving the yeast a swirl every so often will help with this. Try and keep it somewhere warm-ish too, if you can.

[steve_flack]

I use a 2L erlenmeyer flask (AKA a conical flask). They're more resistant to sudden temp changes and you can put them on your hob to boil the starter in them (so making sure the flask gets boil sterilised as well.

[booldawg]

I've made a starter up each and every time I've used dried yeast (99% of my brews). Sounds like I've been wasting my time and spraymalt! I was under the impression that even though it wont improve the cell count it will get the yeast up and running with fermentation and 'hit the ground running' when introduced to the FV.

I usually make it up the night before a brew day and the yeast it working anything up to 3 hours after pitching into the starter.

[drsmurto]

A starter is necessary for liquid yeast, sadly - they're manufactured in the states and they're not in great shape by the time they get here.

Curiously enough the Activator pack of 1469 I got was in unusually great condition. It was fully swelled four hours after smacking.

Agree, smackpacks that arrive downunder a few weeks after manufacturing swell after within hours of being smacked. Ive had one nearly bursting after 30 mins!

Picking up my 1469 today and wont be smacking it till tomorrow morning when i start brewing.

[PaulStat]

Right well it's been a good 3 hrs since I smacked the smack pack, I've been keeping it as warm as possible (ambient room temp is 18.5C at the mo, I have the pack wrapped in a blanket) and there's very little swelling going on. Should I just pitch it anyway?

[adm]

Ah.

Do a search on smack packs for the "smack pack" thread. They can take from a few hours, to a few days to swell....

To be honest, as long as your starter wort is the same temperature, if you pitch it now, it probably won't do any harm. You just might have a longer lag time till it kicks off.

[PaulStat]

Hmmm right ok my manufacturing data was 30JUN08, I'll pitch it and hopefully it'll be active enough for late tomorrow afternoon when I have to pitch the whole lot into my finished beer.

I presume this means the fermentation of my brew may lag a bit?