[bonjour]

Sound advice Denny,

The purpose of making a starter is to make yeast, not beer.

Every now and then, OK, frequently, I get the urge to brew something truly massive, thus 5 gallons of a very flavorful, but small beer.

I Keg/bottle that beer on brew day and usually an RIS, BW, or STRONG Scotch Ale goes right on the yeast cake.

[ccarlson]

The best starter is that from a previous batch, as long as it wasn't above 1.060 or so.

[tomsawyer]

White Labs recommends a 1.040 starter.  I don't think 1.040 is a real stressful environment for a yeast, and the amount of time it takes for the sugar to be consumed is fairly short.

[denny]

White Labs recommends a 1.040 starter.  I don't think 1.040 is a real stressful environment for a yeast, and the amount of time it takes for the sugar to be consumed is fairly short.

No. it's not real stressful, but I feel lower is better.  Tom S., any insights from a pro?

[tschmidlin]

White Labs recommends a 1.040 starter.  I don't think 1.040 is a real stressful environment for a yeast, and the amount of time it takes for the sugar to be consumed is fairly short.

No. it's not real stressful, but I feel lower is better.  Tom S., any insights from a pro?

I haven't tested it, so I can't say for sure.  Standard lab media varies in strength, most labs use between 2-5% glucose for growth, which translates to roughly 1.008 to 1.020.  But research labs aren't trying to grow as much as a brewer is, so I'm not sure it's all that relevant.  There is also very likely to be some strain dependency.

Sorry, not very helpful.