2 batches in so far. First two batches ever. All grain. IPA's are where my mind is at. I'm not one to take the easy route with things, I expect quality results and am of the thought that generally, any extra effort you give will produce quality results, and in the end the extra effort really isn't all that extra at all, it's usually the "right" way to do things and usually, or at least more often than not will yield positive results. Fast forward to my first to batches of AG.
Step 1 - Plan for pitching yeast
- Either pitch the yeast straight or get a yeast starter going to give the yeasties a boost.
- you chose yeast starter for a 5.5 gal batch. Good choice.
- No DME, for your yeast starter, don't worry, you don't need that anyhow, DME is the easy way out.
- What you need:
- Grains
- Thermos
- Hot water
- strainer
- two small pots
- stove or fire or heat source for cooking
- Time
- Glass milk container, sanitized
- More hot water
- ice
- sink
- aluminum foil
- more time.
For your yeast starter basically you create a mini batch of your wort using the same grain profile as the batch you are about to brew.
1. For a 1L starter on a medium gravity beer, I worked out 1.5 cups of grain is equivalent to a bout 0.36 ounces.
2. Toss your grains into your large thermos.
3. Include some water brought to the proper temperature of your choice.
4. Close thermos and get on with other things. Wait 1 hour.
5. Water - in total for a 1L starter you will need two pints plus some of total volume. the "plus some is for evaporation".
6. Once the thermos mash is complete then dump it out through your strainer into a pot.
7. Add addt'l hot water for a mini-sparge. and recirculate all the wort through the grains in the strainer moving between pots for a few minutes.
8. Boil wort for 10-15 minutes
9. Cold crash in a ice bath to bring to temperature.
10. Take an OG reading if you wish. I did this yesterday and hit OG of 1.05 and the beer I brewed ended up at 1.066.
a. there's a lot of debate over yeast starter gravity. Though I recommend keeping the yeast starter profile about the same as your brew, but a little on the light side.
11. Toss the wort into your sanitized glaass container and swirl it around to oxygenate.
12. Add Yeast
13. Cover with tin foil, sanitized, but leave room for breathing.
14. Swirl the mixture around every now and then.
15. Your Starter is ready to use in 8 to 18 hours.
a. There are different schools of thought on this but the lab professionals have put the 8 to 18 range together based on hard data and observations so I will go with them.
16. While your starter is going, you can change the temperature to help things out. you don't want wild temperature swings and you do want the starter to be at pitching temp [+- 5 degrees of wort] when it comes time to pitch.
17. Pitch when ready. [pitch the whole thing - I generally pitch about 12 hrs after having made the starter]
And then hold on!
That's how I do it anyhow....there are stir plates and fancier equipment, but you can find everything you need right at home to get a good starter going.
Hope this helps. And err I hope this is right because My two batches are fermenting right now on this starter method.... time will tell and I will share my results - though I won't have anything to compare it too, since I've never brewed any other way!!
Step 1 - Plan for pitching yeast
- Either pitch the yeast straight or get a yeast starter going to give the yeasties a boost.
- you chose yeast starter for a 5.5 gal batch. Good choice.
- No DME, for your yeast starter, don't worry, you don't need that anyhow, DME is the easy way out.
- What you need:
- Grains
- Thermos
- Hot water
- strainer
- two small pots
- stove or fire or heat source for cooking
- Time
- Glass milk container, sanitized
- More hot water
- ice
- sink
- aluminum foil
- more time.
For your yeast starter basically you create a mini batch of your wort using the same grain profile as the batch you are about to brew.
1. For a 1L starter on a medium gravity beer, I worked out 1.5 cups of grain is equivalent to a bout 0.36 ounces.
2. Toss your grains into your large thermos.
3. Include some water brought to the proper temperature of your choice.
4. Close thermos and get on with other things. Wait 1 hour.
5. Water - in total for a 1L starter you will need two pints plus some of total volume. the "plus some is for evaporation".
6. Once the thermos mash is complete then dump it out through your strainer into a pot.
7. Add addt'l hot water for a mini-sparge. and recirculate all the wort through the grains in the strainer moving between pots for a few minutes.
8. Boil wort for 10-15 minutes
9. Cold crash in a ice bath to bring to temperature.
10. Take an OG reading if you wish. I did this yesterday and hit OG of 1.05 and the beer I brewed ended up at 1.066.
a. there's a lot of debate over yeast starter gravity. Though I recommend keeping the yeast starter profile about the same as your brew, but a little on the light side.
11. Toss the wort into your sanitized glaass container and swirl it around to oxygenate.
12. Add Yeast
13. Cover with tin foil, sanitized, but leave room for breathing.
14. Swirl the mixture around every now and then.
15. Your Starter is ready to use in 8 to 18 hours.
a. There are different schools of thought on this but the lab professionals have put the 8 to 18 range together based on hard data and observations so I will go with them.
16. While your starter is going, you can change the temperature to help things out. you don't want wild temperature swings and you do want the starter to be at pitching temp [+- 5 degrees of wort] when it comes time to pitch.
17. Pitch when ready. [pitch the whole thing - I generally pitch about 12 hrs after having made the starter]
And then hold on!
That's how I do it anyhow....there are stir plates and fancier equipment, but you can find everything you need right at home to get a good starter going.
Hope this helps. And err I hope this is right because My two batches are fermenting right now on this starter method.... time will tell and I will share my results - though I won't have anything to compare it too, since I've never brewed any other way!!
