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Author Topic: Yeast Starter for 1 Gallon Batch?  (Read 12454 times)

Offline Wort-H.O.G.

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Re: Yeast Starter for 1 Gallon Batch?
« Reply #15 on: March 03, 2015, 08:01:15 am »

At 1 gallon it IS a starter. Well almost.
Can I jump in? What about sub 5 gallon batches? Using WLP001 on a 3 gallon pale ale. Starter?
\
don't think you need to if its pretty fresh. i'd just likely throw it in, unless its older and then make 1L 1.030 starter.
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Offline dmtaylor

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Re: Yeast Starter for 1 Gallon Batch?
« Reply #16 on: March 03, 2015, 10:44:52 am »
What about sub 5 gallon batches? Using WLP001 on a 3 gallon pale ale. Starter?

Risky.  3 gallons is not far from 5 gallon, and with liquid yeast you never know for sure how good the storage was between manufacturer and your own refrigerator.  I'd make a starter for 3 gallons, even if only one liter.  Only exception might be for hefeweizen where underpitching is arguably better than the standard pitch rate anyway.
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Offline denny

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Re: Yeast Starter for 1 Gallon Batch?
« Reply #17 on: March 03, 2015, 10:50:06 am »

At 1 gallon it IS a starter. Well almost.
Can I jump in? What about sub 5 gallon batches? Using WLP001 on a 3 gallon pale ale. Starter?

IMO, depends on the OG.  I'm brewing a 2.5 gal. batch lf 1.062 IPA on the Zymatic today and I don't intend to make a starter for it.  If it was 5 gal. the OG would be 1.0p31 and I'm OK with not using a starter for that.
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Offline erockrph

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Re: Yeast Starter for 1 Gallon Batch?
« Reply #18 on: March 03, 2015, 12:20:38 pm »

At 1 gallon it IS a starter. Well almost.
Can I jump in? What about sub 5 gallon batches? Using WLP001 on a 3 gallon pale ale. Starter?
For that beer/yeast you'll be fine unless the yeast is very old.

Personally, my batches are targeting a final volume of 2.5 gallons (3 gallons or so into the fermenter). I don't make a starter for ales unless the yeast is pretty old or I'm brewing a high gravity beer. Since liquid yeast is a bit of a treat for me (I don't have a LHBS that is convenient to me, and I try to order in bulk online instead of batch-by-batch), I do try to stretch it out by brewing a few batches in succession. I will typically do 2 successive batches in the 1.040-1.060 range, then brew a big beer (1.090+) - all using some (or all) of the yeast from the prior beer.

For lagers, I typically make starters in the 2-3 quart range.
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