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Author Topic: First time using liquid yeast/making a starter  (Read 1267 times)

Offline Hoppist

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First time using liquid yeast/making a starter
« on: March 30, 2018, 06:38:38 am »
About to do my second brew, a NEIPA. For this one I got the classic Wyeast London A3 1318 and I am planning to do a starter. The yeast has January 25 date on it, so I guest it should be about 55% viable. This is my first time working with liquid yeast and I want to build a starter. I don't have a stir plate, but I plan to use a blender on the lowest setting. It has a non-stepped speed controller, so I can run it on a very low speed, lower than "1" in most blenders, thus I think that if I succeed sanitizing it, then I should be fine. What pitch rate do you think I should go for, considering I am most likely going to build a 20L (5gal) 1.06 wort for it to ferment? I would like a slight underpitch to create some more intense fruity ester profile. My starter will be (unless someone proposed something better) 1L with 100g extra light DME. Should I leave it in the starter for 2 days, or will 1 suffice?

Offline Robert

  • Official Poobah of No Life. (I Got Ban Hammered by Drew)
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Re: First time using liquid yeast/making a starter
« Reply #1 on: March 30, 2018, 07:12:43 am »
A stir plate is not necessary, and a blender is a bad idea: even if you can sanitize it, you will literally chop your yeast cells to bits.  Even stir plates damage yeast by shearing. 

All you need is a gallon jug.  Put a liter/quart of 1.040 dme wort in it, add your liquid yeast.   Seal it up with a stopper or cap and shake it until the jug is full of foam; this will adequately oxygenate the wort.  Remove the stopper and loosely cover the opening with a piece of sanitized foil (keeps stuff from falling in but allows oxygen ingress and CO2 to escape.)

Then you have two choices.   You can pitch the whole yeast starter to your batch when it becomes active (if you agitate it a little you will see CO2 bubbles rising.) This will be in just a few hours, not even a day!  You can make the starter at the beginning of brew day. If time constraints won't allow this, you can make the starter about two days ahead.  Ferment it for 24 hours,  you will see the foam rise and start to fall.  Then refrigerate it for 24 hours to settle out the yeast.  Take it straight out of the fridge,  pour the liquid off the layer of yeast at the bottom leaving maybe half an inch of liquid.  Swirl up the yeast and pitch this to your wort. In either case, aerate your wort well and you'll have a vigorous fermentation in no time.
Rob Stein
Akron, Ohio

I'd rather have questions I can't answer than answers I can't question.

Offline Brandon

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Re: First time using liquid yeast/making a starter
« Reply #2 on: April 01, 2018, 07:09:38 am »
About to do my second brew, a NEIPA. For this one I got the classic Wyeast London A3 1318 and I am planning to do a starter. The yeast has January 25 date on it, so I guest it should be about 55% viable. This is my first time working with liquid yeast and I want to build a starter. I don't have a stir plate, but I plan to use a blender on the lowest setting. It has a non-stepped speed controller, so I can run it on a very low speed, lower than "1" in most blenders, thus I think that if I succeed sanitizing it, then I should be fine. What pitch rate do you think I should go for, considering I am most likely going to build a 20L (5gal) 1.06 wort for it to ferment? I would like a slight underpitch to create some more intense fruity ester profile. My starter will be (unless someone proposed something better) 1L with 100g extra light DME. Should I leave it in the starter for 2 days, or will 1 suffice?

1 day should be fine most of the time i do mine the day before i brew never had any issues.