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Author Topic: First time doing a starter and have some questions!  (Read 1974 times)

Offline alekmager

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First time doing a starter and have some questions!
« on: May 19, 2018, 09:06:33 am »
Hello everyone, I'm making a NEIPA with a projected OG of 1.065 and am using a London Ale dry yeast that I will rehydrate, and pairing it with Wyeast English Ale III (forget the numbers, as I'm posting from work). For starters (hehe) I am having trouble finding the answers to these questions

-Since the projected SG of the beer is 1.065, should I make the wort for the starter come in at 1.065, or is the standard 1.040 enough for the yeast to multiply with?

- I'm planning on giving this 24-30hrs to sit, since I'm pairing this with the dry yeast will that be a sufficient amount of time for the yeast to culture? I've seen people say 12hrs and others say 4 days so curious how y'all time things out.

I'm sure I have more questions, as they seem to keep arising but those two are my biggest ones as of now. Any input or tips and advice is abundantly appreciated. I am a new brewer so still trying to get my bearings with this wonderful world of brewing! Thank you in advance for the help!

Regards
Alek M

Online BrewBama

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First time doing a starter and have some questions!
« Reply #1 on: May 19, 2018, 09:25:11 am »
First off: what the hell are you doing at work !?!?

1.040 will be great to propagate the yeast.

“A yeast starter is ready to pitch anytime after it has attained high krausen (full activity), and for about a day or two after it has settled out.” — John Palmer, How to Brew.  That could one day or more. Yeast have a mind of their own.

Recommend: Shake the starter every time you walk by.


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« Last Edit: May 19, 2018, 09:31:47 am by BrewBama »

Offline Steve L

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Re: First time doing a starter and have some questions!
« Reply #2 on: May 19, 2018, 10:27:49 am »
yup, 1.036 - 1.040 is a good range for a starter. I let mine go on a stirplate for 24 hours, 36 at the most, then in the fridge. My typical practice is to make a starter in the evening, 2 days before brew day and the night before or the morning of, I drop it in the fridge for about 6-8 hours before pitching. I usually let it warm up to about 60F then decant and pitch. yeastcalculator.com is a good source for starters and pitch rates.
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Offline alekmager

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Re: First time doing a starter and have some questions!
« Reply #3 on: May 19, 2018, 11:11:36 am »
First off: what the hell are you doing at work !?!?

1.040 will be great to propagate the yeast.

“A yeast starter is ready to pitch anytime after it has attained high krausen (full activity), and for about a day or two after it has settled out.” — John Palmer, How to Brew.  That could one day or more. Yeast have a mind of their own.

Recommend: Shake the starter every time you walk by.


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Awesome! The money to make the liquid gold needs to come from somewhere right haha? So with all that being said I believe the metric ratio of water/dme is 10 to 1, how would you, using that ratio, find how much water to use to dme yo successfully create enough sugars for yeast to multiply accurately? Is there an equation? For example, I have 6 gallon batch I'm planning this for, would I just use say 2 liters of water to 200 grams of dme or would the amount vary because of batch size and target yeast count? I know I switched units of measurement with gallonage to then liters, but yeah haha.
« Last Edit: May 19, 2018, 11:14:29 am by alekmager »

Offline alekmager

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Re: First time doing a starter and have some questions!
« Reply #4 on: May 19, 2018, 11:13:12 am »
yup, 1.036 - 1.040 is a good range for a starter. I let mine go on a stirplate for 24 hours, 36 at the most, then in the fridge. My typical practice is to make a starter in the evening, 2 days before brew day and the night before or the morning of, I drop it in the fridge for about 6-8 hours before pitching. I usually let it warm up to about 60F then decant and pitch. yeastcalculator.com is a good source for starters and pitch rates.

Thanks for the info, the calculator looks like it will definitely simplify things for me!

Offline denny

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Re: First time doing a starter and have some questions!
« Reply #5 on: May 19, 2018, 11:21:07 am »
yup, 1.036 - 1.040 is a good range for a starter. I let mine go on a stirplate for 24 hours, 36 at the most, then in the fridge. My typical practice is to make a starter in the evening, 2 days before brew day and the night before or the morning of, I drop it in the fridge for about 6-8 hours before pitching. I usually let it warm up to about 60F then decant and pitch. yeastcalculator.com is a good source for starters and pitch rates.

Thanks for the info, the calculator looks like it will definitely simplify things for me!

If you want to really simplify things, try the "shaken, Not Stirred" starter.  I did the whole yeast calculator/stir plate/refrigerate/decant thing for maybe 15 years.  Then a ;poster here mentioned the SNS method and I haven't use a stirplate or calculator since.  Simply make a qt. of 1.036ish wort.  Put it in a gal. container (I use a juice jug) and shake it until the container is full of foam. Pitch your yeast into that, and the next day when it's at high krausen pitch the entire thing into your beer.  It's worked great for me in ales up to 1.080 and lagers up to 1.068.  Might be able to go higher, but that's all I've done.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

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Offline Steve L

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Re: First time doing a starter and have some questions!
« Reply #6 on: May 19, 2018, 11:25:24 am »
yup, 1.036 - 1.040 is a good range for a starter. I let mine go on a stirplate for 24 hours, 36 at the most, then in the fridge. My typical practice is to make a starter in the evening, 2 days before brew day and the night before or the morning of, I drop it in the fridge for about 6-8 hours before pitching. I usually let it warm up to about 60F then decant and pitch. yeastcalculator.com is a good source for starters and pitch rates.

Thanks for the info, the calculator looks like it will definitely simplify things for me!

If you want to really simplify things, try the "shaken, Not Stirred" starter.  I did the whole yeast calculator/stir plate/refrigerate/decant thing for maybe 15 years.  Then a ;poster here mentioned the SNS method and I haven't use a stirplate or calculator since.  Simply make a qt. of 1.036ish wort.  Put it in a gal. container (I use a juice jug) and shake it until the container is full of foam. Pitch your yeast into that, and the next day when it's at high krausen pitch the entire thing into your beer.  It's worked great for me in ales up to 1.080 and lagers up to 1.068.  Might be able to go higher, but that's all I've done.
Geesh... Your killing me... First you make me batch sparge my mashes cause it's easy and gets great efficiency... Now you go and make my starters easier and more efficient.... But seriously... Great stuff. You never stop learning when it comes to Homebrewing! ;)

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Corripe Cervisiam

Offline klickitat jim

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Re: First time doing a starter and have some questions!
« Reply #7 on: May 19, 2018, 12:24:54 pm »
First off: what the hell are you doing at work !?!?

1.040 will be great to propagate the yeast.

“A yeast starter is ready to pitch anytime after it has attained high krausen (full activity), and for about a day or two after it has settled out.” — John Palmer, How to Brew.  That could one day or more. Yeast have a mind of their own.

Recommend: Shake the starter every time you walk by.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Awesome! The money to make the liquid gold needs to come from somewhere right haha? So with all that being said I believe the metric ratio of water/dme is 10 to 1, how would you, using that ratio, find how much water to use to dme yo successfully create enough sugars for yeast to multiply accurately? Is there an equation? For example, I have 6 gallon batch I'm planning this for, would I just use say 2 liters of water to 200 grams of dme or would the amount vary because of batch size and target yeast count? I know I switched units of measurement with gallonage to then liters, but yeah haha.
10ml water to 1g DME is what we call ten per cent, not to be confused with 10%, and unless over boiled will be  (conveniently) 10°P, or 1.040

It's what I use and works. I also do a version of what Denny is selling, only instead of shaking I use oxygen. I make my starters, 1000ml-1200ml for 6 gallon batches, morning of brew day and pitch the whole thing that evening. From experience I can attest that it works for lagers up to 1.060 and ales up to 1.110 if you are oxygenating the main beer wort too.