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Author Topic: My first yeast starter - questions!  (Read 23097 times)

Offline Hokerer

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Re: My first yeast starter - questions!
« Reply #45 on: February 17, 2011, 08:06:13 pm »
When its done I plan to decant off nearly all the liquid and then shake it a bit to get the yeast cake back into suspension then pitch that straight to the carboy.  Is that correct?

That is correct
Joe

Offline jivetyrant

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Re: My first yeast starter - questions!
« Reply #46 on: February 19, 2011, 05:18:03 am »
I ended up running out of time and wasn't able to do the second yeast starter I had planned on.  I am now left with a standard 1L starter with 3 propagator packs in it.  I am planning on pitching that and supplementing with some rehydrated dry yeast.  I have several varieties available to me. (I keep a stock of dry yeast in case of mistakes or emergencies such as this)

I have US-05, US-04, S-33, T-58, Nottingham and Windsor.  Any reccomendations. (It's an Imperial Stout, 1.104-1.110 OG)

Edit: I am leaning strongly towards the US-05 as it seems the most similar to the Wyeast 1056 American Ale I'm using currently.
« Last Edit: February 19, 2011, 05:37:09 am by jivetyrant »

Offline a10t2

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Re: My first yeast starter - questions!
« Reply #47 on: February 19, 2011, 07:37:22 am »
Yes, US-05 and 1056 are essentially the same yeast.
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Offline punatic

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Re: My first yeast starter - questions!
« Reply #48 on: February 27, 2011, 05:19:48 pm »
I don't know...how about:
As porosity goes to 0, bulk density approaches particle density.
;D  That works.  I don't remember that phrase from any of my classes, but that could be because they were mechanical engineering or biochemistry classes, not civil engineering or materials science or soil or any of a host of things where that would come into play.  It could also be because I wasn't always paying that much attention ;)

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Offline ronrock

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Re: My first yeast starter - questions!
« Reply #49 on: March 07, 2011, 06:32:19 am »
jivetyrant, How did the fermentation go?

Offline jivetyrant

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Re: My first yeast starter - questions!
« Reply #50 on: March 07, 2011, 06:52:59 am »
     Well!  I tossed the first starter that I made, it was showing very little activity.  As suspected by a few folks the starter's OG was far too high.  I ended up following the instructions on MrMalty for my second starter.  I did a 1L starter using 3.5oz DME and a bit of yeast nutrient. (1g DME per 10ml final volume)  This starter showed great activity!  I did not have time to increase to a larger starter so I instead supplemented the starter with an 11.5g pack of rehydrated S-05.  Fermentation proceeded quite quickly and topped out at a somewhat disappointing 1.042, roughly a 63% attenuation. (I started a separate thread regarding the stuck fermentation.)  I added some more yeast nutrient, pitched some more rehydrated S-05 and a touch of sugar to get it working, shook the carboy *very* thoroughly in the morning and at night, making sure there was no yeast sediment on the bottom before stopping.  I raised the temp a bit, bumping it closer to 75-80.  2 days later I went to check my gravity and....... promptly dropped my hydrometer and smashed it to bits. -.-

     My new hydrometer arrived in the mail yesterday.  I swung for a (hopefully) more swish model, choosing a thermohydrometer from northernbrewer.  Will probably check the gravity tonight or tomorrow! 

Offline ajk

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Re: My first yeast starter - questions!
« Reply #51 on: March 07, 2011, 07:05:10 am »
  Storing it in the fridge will cause a longer lag time when you pitch it into the wort. 

Could you expand on this? Myself and lots of excellent homebrewers have followed numerous commercial breweries lead of pitching cold.

I don't know about lag time, but I alway try to keep starters around the same temperature as the wort because of the following from Jamil's site:

Quote
According to Dr. Clayton Cone, one of the foremost experts on yeast, the yeast should be within 15F of the wort they're being pitched into. Neva Parker, the Laboratory Manger at White Labs, suggests a maximum swing of 10F and ideally 5F. I agree with Neva 100%. Besides shocking and stressing the yeast, pitching warm yeast into a cool wort can cause many of the yeast to produce petite mutants, which will never grow or ferment properly and they can produce excessive H2S.

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Re: My first yeast starter - questions!
« Reply #52 on: March 07, 2011, 09:32:41 am »
  Storing it in the fridge will cause a longer lag time when you pitch it into the wort. 

Could you expand on this? Myself and lots of excellent homebrewers have followed numerous commercial breweries lead of pitching cold.

I don't know about lag time, but I alway try to keep starters around the same temperature as the wort because of the following from Jamil's site:

Quote
According to Dr. Clayton Cone, one of the foremost experts on yeast, the yeast should be within 15F of the wort they're being pitched into. Neva Parker, the Laboratory Manger at White Labs, suggests a maximum swing of 10F and ideally 5F. I agree with Neva 100%. Besides shocking and stressing the yeast, pitching warm yeast into a cool wort can cause many of the yeast to produce petite mutants, which will never grow or ferment properly and they can produce excessive H2S.

Notice that says pitching warm yeast into cool wort.  I've had excellent results pitching cold yeast into warmer wort.  It comes out of the fridge and right into the beer.
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Offline Mark G

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Re: My first yeast starter - questions!
« Reply #53 on: March 07, 2011, 09:37:33 am »
This came up a while back on the forum, and since then, I've been keeping my starters in the fridge until I'm ready to pitch. Then decant, and pitch cold. It's been probably 10-15 batches, and I haven't noticed any difference in yeast performance.
Mark Gres