[sparkleberry]

so I've plugged in my numbers for a 1.060 5.25 gallon batch.

I'm using my stir plate for the first time.

malty is telling me i need two packs(which i have) with the starter and 1 liter of starter.

does this mean i put both packs into a 1 liter starter or both packs into a 2 liter starter and need a total of 1 liter to pitch?

my growth factor is all the way left at 2.0, since i'm using 2 packs.

cheers and thanks.

[ethalacker]

Just pitch 2 vials into 1 liter.

[sparkleberry]

thank you.

thats what i thought but wanted to make sure.

[Hokerer]

so I've plugged in my numbers for a 1.060 5.25 gallon batch.
...
my growth factor is all the way left at 2.0, since i'm using 2 packs.

Why not move that growth factor a bit to the right, make a little bit bigger starter, and use just one of your yeast packs?  Save the second for another time.

[nateo]

I agree with Hokerer. Yeast growth is sensitive to inoculation rates in starters. 2 vials into a 1L starter gives an inoculation rate of about 200m/ml, and you should end up with about 220b cells. That's only 10% more yeast.

1 vial in a 2L starter is 50m/ml, and will give you about 205b cells, which is 105% more yeast. MrMalty says to use 2.43L for your beer, which sounds about right.

Unless the viability of my yeast is seriously in doubt, I don't like to make starters with fewer than 100m/ml. The range of 50m/ml to 100m/ml will give you the maximum yield factor for your yeast. That's 1 vial of viable yeast in a 1-2L starter.

EDIT: Woops, forgot about your stir plate. With your stir plate, the yield factors will be much higher than the numbers I put above. 1 vial and a 1L starter will be plenty for what you're doing.

[bluesman]

so I've plugged in my numbers for a 1.060 5.25 gallon batch.
...
my growth factor is all the way left at 2.0, since i'm using 2 packs.

Why not move that growth factor a bit to the right, make a little bit bigger starter, and use just one of your yeast packs?  Save the second for another time.

+1

I think you'll be fine with one pack or vial and a larger starter. I do it all the time with great results.

[jimrod]

Does that make sense?  For a 1.054 lager with a stir plate it calls for 7 vials of White Labs per 3.5 quart starter. WOW.
I only have a 2000ml flask.

 Is that right 7 vials at $7 each.

[gmwren]

Does that make sense?  For a 1.054 lager with a stir plate it calls for 7 vials of White Labs per 3.5 quart starter. WOW.
I only have a 2000ml flask.

 Is that right 7 vials at $7 each.

The pitfalls of Mr Malty. We as homebrewers have under pitched our liquid yeast for years. Amazingly enough, we still made great award winning beer and nudged the craft beer industry in a positive direction; all without Mr. Malty showing us the way.
The good thing to take away from MM is that we can improve our pitching rates, but it needs to be applied to the equipment you have. Your 2L flask will work fine. No stir plate? Just give it a swirl every time you walk by. Not as good as a stir plate for aerating, but you make due with what you have. Step up your starter by chilling and decanting the spent wort and refreshing it with around 1.030 wort and repeat up to three times. Regardless what MM tells you, unless you can count your yeast cells, it is only an estimate of the actual pitching rate.

[narvin]

Does that make sense?  For a 1.054 lager with a stir plate it calls for 7 vials of White Labs per 3.5 quart starter. WOW.
I only have a 2000ml flask.

 Is that right 7 vials at $7 each.

No, that's wrong.  You must have the viability set really low.  Check the box in the upper right.

I assume you're making a 5 gallon batch?  7 vials, even without a starter, would be twice as much as you need.

[jmcamerlengo]

Does that make sense?  For a 1.054 lager with a stir plate it calls for 7 vials of White Labs per 3.5 quart starter. WOW.
I only have a 2000ml flask.

 Is that right 7 vials at $7 each.

No, that's wrong.  You must have the viability set really low.  Check the box in the upper right.

I assume you're making a 5 gallon batch?  7 vials, even without a starter, would be twice as much as you need.

+1 something isnt right

I can see pitching 7 vials in a Baltic Porter or Eisbock or something but that would be without a starter!

A 1.054 lager assuming 5 gallons should be somewhere around 4 liquid yeast packs OR 2 packs pitched into a 2L starter with intermittent shaking.

[repo]

Yeah, I'm going to go with Mr. Malty. It is a calculator giving you results based on info you enter. What it's saying is 7 vials of that viability, which from the number I'm assuming is a few months old or close to the end of its shelf life. It only applies  for  7 vials of that age/viability, when you go to your brew store and get some fresh(er) vials that whole equation will change. I assume you don't have 7 vials about to expire???
 
It is a fun tool, play around and get a feel for how different variables affect your pitching potential. And as was mentioned earlier you can change your starter size, step up your starters and other options to fit your equipment. 

[a10t2]

We as homebrewers have under pitched our liquid yeast for years. Amazingly enough, we still made great award winning beer

Winning an award just means your beer is better than the other guys', not necessarily that it's great.

[linenoiz]

One thing to keep in mind when using the calculator that has tripped me up in the past. If at any point you have made some changes to it and hit the "Save Settings" button, one of the settings it saves is the production date. From then on, whenever you go to the calculator, the production date will default to the last value that was saved. For example, I last saved settings some time in August, so when I go to the calculator now, it has 07/18/2011 as my production date, giving me 10% estimated viability. I have to adjust the production date value every time I use the calculator.

[denny]

We as homebrewers have under pitched our liquid yeast for years. Amazingly enough, we still made great award winning beer

Winning an award just means your beer is better than the other guys', not necessarily that it's great.

And I might add "better than the other guys on that particular day to those particular judges".