yeast starters

[Qs]

Do you mix the yeast with LME or warm water when making a starter?  And what quantity do you aim for? A pint/a litre?

I use DME, I think most people do. I boil it in some water for 10-15 minutes then I cool it and add the yeast. Usually you want 1 gram of DME for every 10 ml. So a 3L starter needs 300g. Thats what I do anyway. The size in L of the starter depends entirely on the beer. This is another big advantage of making starters, you can give the beer exactly the right amount of yeast so you are not over or under pitching.

There are a few online calculators for how big to build your starter, I usually use Jamils (http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html#%22) or the beersmith one.

[Kevin O'Roundwood]

[/quote]

I use DME, I think most people do. I boil it in some water for 10-15 minutes then I cool it and add the yeast. Usually you want 1 gram of DME for every 10 ml. So a 3L starter needs 300g. Thats what I do anyway. The size in L of the starter depends entie beer. This is another big advantage of making starters, you can give the beer exactly the right amount of yeast so you are not over or under pitching.

There are a few online calculators for how big to build your starter, I usually use Jamils (http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html#%22) or the beersmith one.
[/quote]

Ah good man! That fills in a lot of blanks I had about starters. One more question - without hijacking the thread I hope - once you've made your starter how long does it last? And would you store it in the fridge? (OK 2 questions...) I would assume Mr & Mrs Yeast wouldnt be too happy in the cold.

[Qs]

You store them cold, warm them up when you want them to work. Having them at fridge temps puts them to sleep essentially. Some people on here even freeze yeast but I haven't tried that. How long starters last is open to debate. I've not tried leaving them more than a couple of weeks.

[LordEoin]

I use DME, I think most people do.

I use a jar of malt extract from the health food shop.
No fuss with open bags of DME or half tins of LME.

[molc]

I use DME, I think most people do.

I use a jar of malt extract from the health food shop.
No fuss with open bags of DME or half tins of LME.

Something like this?: http://www.hollandandbarrett.ie/pages/product_detail.asp?pid=2963

So, for a 2L starter, you'd just add 200g of the extract? I cab't find any detail on the water content from the link.

[Simon_]

cool. Didn't know malt extract was sold that way.

I've run out of DME so I was playing with the idea of syphoning off a few litres from a brew day to make a starter a few days later.

[Pepin The Short]

cool. Didn't know malt extract was sold that way.

Aye man I use to eat it outta the jar as a kid . you should find it in the baking section . it`s use to make scones and the like .

[Eoin]

Seeing as I use my DME to make starters, I don't want that stuff in my all grain beers, so I let the starter go past high krausen and the drop the yeast out of suspension with by crash cooling the starter, then I decant as much liquid as I can and pitch as much pure yeast only as I can.

I know CH will argue high krausen, but this will only really work if you're using the same wort to make your starter as you are using for your beer...this normally won't work at all with a lager unless you do a mini mash with the same malt as you use for your lager.

[Leann ull]

Not really I go 24 to 36 hours max as a general rule and and then let sit for an hour or two then decant off the beer

[Beermonger]

Also if you reuse your yeast, it's cost is shared over numerous batches. After a while DME is the greater cost of making starters

The best method of reusing yeast in my opinion is to overbuild your starters and refill a vial for later use

Thanks for this. It's not news to me, but just reading it today got the gears turning and I'll probably start overbuilding and saving yeast.

As for the cost... I think it's not worth worrying about. If you overbuild and refill, that vial of newly made yeast is an absolute bargain. I just did a sample calculation using that page (excellent tool, I'll be using it in future), and I figure that the additional cost for the DME to make an extra 100 billion cells is on the order of €1. That depends on a lot of assumptions about your set up of course (and I'm assuming you're buying DME in 3 kg bags from HBC or GEB, and so for around €6.30/kg), but I can't see the cost of the refill reaching anywhere near the price of a new vial.

(And if, as Simon suggests, you use some all-grain wort instead of DME, then it's basically free. You'd probably want to get it before the hops went in and then boil it. Another option is to make an all-grain hop-free wort and can it for future starters).

Of course, your sanitation needs to be really good, or you're just wasting your time. And even so, it's probably safer to throw your yeast out on the nth generation and start again with a store-bought vial.

[Leann ull]

You know you are brewing too much when every computer fan in the house is spinning a stir bar

[ronniedeb]

I have access to a few beakers, volumetric flasks and graduated cylinders. No erlenmeyer flasks though. Is there any reason these would not make a suitable substitute for the erlenmeyer in yeast starter production? I also have access to small stirplates (800ml max). Is the lower volume capacity going to be an issue with these stirplates?
Thanks

[Leann ull]

You are boiling on the stove and then chilling in an ice bath and pitching yeast into a fully sterile environment, if liquid starters are on your radar erlenmeyers are the way to go
If your yeast is fresh fresh you can get away with 1l starter but I always go with 1.5-2 to avoid off flavour issues with under pitching,beersmith will also tell you based on package date viability.
I'm a bit retentive about my yeast health and only collect and put in an insulated icebox for the journey home 

[ronniedeb]

You are boiling on the stove and then chilling in an ice bath and pitching yeast into a fully sterile environment, if liquid starters are on your radar erlenmeyers are the way to go
If your yeast is fresh fresh you can get away with 1l starter but I always go with 1.5-2 to avoid off flavour issues with under pitching,beersmith will also tell you based on package date viability.
I'm a bit retentive about my yeast health and only collect and put in an insulated icebox for the journey home 

Thanks. What about splitting the batch between two stirplates (800+800)?

[Leann ull]

That's fecky but could be done, far easier just to get a min 3l erlenmeyer