[steveh32]

Great question on the starter.  1L stir plate w/ 3.4oz DME started 24hr before pitching.  Let it settle, decanted it off and pitched. Wort was aerated and ready to go at 66 deg along with the starter at the same temp so that's when I pitched and then dropped by 4 deg/day to get to ferm temp of 50.  Had read that this approach was fine but later read a different perspective that you should *never* do that for best results with lagers.  Different opinions in brewing?  Who knew?!  ;-)  Love any other thoughts on this, but next crack at it I'm planning on chilling wort & starter to 50 deg before pitching and see how that works.  That in and of itself is an argument for the O2 stone - seems like it will be easier and more reliable to aerate at that point. 

[Saccharomyces]

Please do me a favor an read this blog entry: https://www.experimentalbrew.com/blogs/saccharomyces/shaken-not-stirred-stir-plate-myth-buster   I guarantee that you will put your stir plate on eBay or at least park it permanently if you give SNS a shot.

[erockrph]

Great question on the starter.  1L stir plate w/ 3.4oz DME started 24hr before pitching.  Let it settle, decanted it off and pitched. Wort was aerated and ready to go at 66 deg along with the starter at the same temp so that's when I pitched and then dropped by 4 deg/day to get to ferm temp of 50.  Had read that this approach was fine but later read a different perspective that you should *never* do that for best results with lagers.  Different opinions in brewing?  Who knew?!  ;-)  Love any other thoughts on this, but next crack at it I'm planning on chilling wort & starter to 50 deg before pitching and see how that works.  That in and of itself is an argument for the O2 stone - seems like it will be easier and more reliable to aerate at that point.

A 1 liter starter seems a bit small for a 1.050 lager, especially if you fermented it out and crashed it. 1L would probably be fine for a SNS starter at high krausen, but I'd go up to 2 liters for a traditional stirplate starter.

Also, I know that this opposes common brewing lore, but I've never noticed an issue if my yeast or starter are a different temperature than my wort. I'd just add the starter right to the chilled/aerated wort and let it go.

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[steveh32]

Please do me a favor an read this blog entry: https://www.experimentalbrew.com/blogs/saccharomyces/shaken-not-stirred-stir-plate-myth-buster   I guarantee that you will put your stir plate on eBay or at least park it permanently if you give SNS a shot.

Great post, thanks for sharing.  Will now try the SNS method, but the downside is that the stir plate looks cooler.  Makes me feel scientific 

[steveh32]

Great question on the starter.  1L stir plate w/ 3.4oz DME started 24hr before pitching.  Let it settle, decanted it off and pitched. Wort was aerated and ready to go at 66 deg along with the starter at the same temp so that's when I pitched and then dropped by 4 deg/day to get to ferm temp of 50.  Had read that this approach was fine but later read a different perspective that you should *never* do that for best results with lagers.  Different opinions in brewing?  Who knew?!  ;-)  Love any other thoughts on this, but next crack at it I'm planning on chilling wort & starter to 50 deg before pitching and see how that works.  That in and of itself is an argument for the O2 stone - seems like it will be easier and more reliable to aerate at that point.

A 1 liter starter seems a bit small for a 1.050 lager, especially if you fermented it out and crashed it. 1L would probably be fine for a SNS starter at high krausen, but I'd go up to 2 liters for a traditional stirplate starter.

Also, I know that this opposes common brewing lore, but I've never noticed an issue if my yeast or starter are a different temperature than my wort. I'd just add the starter right to the chilled/aerated wort and let it go.

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Thanks Eric, and good to know on the temp management of the yeast/starter.

[denny]

Please do me a favor an read this blog entry: https://www.experimentalbrew.com/blogs/saccharomyces/shaken-not-stirred-stir-plate-myth-buster   I guarantee that you will put your stir plate on eBay or at least park it permanently if you give SNS a shot.

Great post, thanks for sharing.  Will now try the SNS method, but the downside is that the stir plate looks cooler.  Makes me feel scientific 

I decided that using my stir plate made me feel silly for wasting so much time.  I put it away maybe 5 years ago and have no idea where it is now.

[Saccharomyces]

I decided that using my stair pkate made me feel silly for wasting so much time.  I out it away amybe 5 years ago and have no idea where it is now.

That is hilarious, but true.  We have to sweat so many things in brewing that we should not have to sweat making and pitching a starter.  Using a stir plate to make a starter is a prime example of violating the Keep It Simple, Stupid (KISS) principle.

[denny]

I decided that using my stair pkate made me feel silly for wasting so much time.  I out it away amybe 5 years ago and have no idea where it is now.

That is hilarious, but true.  We have to sweat so many things in brewing that we should not have to sweat making and pitching a starter.  Using a stir plate to make a starter is a prime example of violating the Keep It Simple, Stupid (KISS) principle.

As I've said before, Simple Homebrewing.

[lupulus]

Attenuation is mostly about wort composition. However you mashed this, the wort simply had more unfermentables than you intended. But even the best palate in the world is not going to be able to tell the difference between 1.014 and 1.012 (anyone who claims otherwise...that's just confirmation bias).

If you're hell bent on getting those last couple of points of attenuation, the only real option is to add glucoamylase (e.g. ultra ferm). Monitor the gravity very closely and cold crash to arrest further yeast activity as soon as you hit your target--otherwise attenuation will continue, and you probably don't want a 1.000 pilsner.

Or...just enjoy the beer, and make adjustments on the next batch.

Glucoamylase and crash will leave you a ton of unfermented glucose, making the beer taste really sweet.
Crashing won't stop the enzyme, just slow it down.

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