Shortest Yeast starter

What is the shortest amount of time anyone has ever started a yeast starter prior to pitching?

Thanks!

you only need 8 to 18 hours to get the full benefit of a starter. So far I've put all my starters into play in the morning on brew day - then brew in the evening and pitch the starter.

jdhasse said:

What is the shortest amount of time anyone has ever started a yeast starter prior to pitching?

Thanks!

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That would depend on how many viable cells you have to pitch into the starter and the recommended pitching rate for the beer you are brewing.
If you are not looking to increase the estimated viable cell count but rather just prove viability and get them into gear then 2 - 4 hours would probably suffice.

crawkraut said:

you only need 8 to 18 hours to get the full benefit of a starter. So far I've put all my starters into play in the morning on brew day - then brew in the evening and pitch the starter.

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That is not quite true. "Full benefit" would imply that the yeast have multiplied as much as they need to consume all the sugars in the starter. One day is not enough to do that. You will get some multiplication going but for the most part your really just getting the yeast active. This is why many here make their starters days in advance

http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/homebrew/starter-tips

White labs knows best...though ultimately it's up to he brewer and customization is generally called for....hours, cell count, abv, yeast type, etc...

4 hours is better than nothing, you just might not be producing to many new cells

Does anyone have math on the ultimate multiplication output of yeast, will its environment only allow it to grow so big, to the extent food is available. Simple example - if you pitch 1 billion yeast cells would it only be allowed to grow to 3 billion in a 5 gallon batch whereas if you pitched 500 million yeast cells it'd multiply to .... 3 billion yeast cells in the same 5g batch?? Or would the yeast pitched in the smaller amount consume more food and exhaust it's food source before it got to 3 B?

Is there a maximum consumption rate for a cell or population of yeast? And is multiplication exponential and infinite?

crawkraut said:

Does anyone have math on the ultimate multiplication output of yeast, will its environment only allow it to grow so big, to the extent food is available. Simple example - if you pitch 1 billion yeast cells would it only be allowed to grow to 3 billion in a 5 gallon batch whereas if you pitched 500 million yeast cells it'd multiply to .... 3 billion yeast cells in the same 5g batch?? Or would the yeast pitched in the smaller amount consume more food and exhaust it's food source before it got to 3 B?

Is there a maximum consumption rate for a cell or population of yeast? And is multiplication exponential and infinite?

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I have just performed a little experiment for my own curiosity.
I made a 400 ml starter (1.037) and carefully measured 1ml of 1 month old stored washed yeast into it using a disposable 1ml pipette. Put it on stirplate for 4 days flat out. Then into a measuring cylinder into the fridge.
It has nearly flocced completely and I have 17ml of compacted yeast which may end up nearer 18 ml when it finally settles.
Base on around 3bn cells per ml that would indicate 54bn cells from 1ml of yeast.

This is right on what Kai Troester setting in Yeastcalc estimated I would get. Jamil Zainesheff setting tells me I should only have about 3.5ml of yeast or 10.7bn cells.

The big question in my mind is are my cells healthy with such a high growth rate?????

I have read all the blurb on scarring if cells bud too quickly when underpitched. Obviously there will be cells of varying scar damage depending where in the cycle they were created.

Will beer made with these possibly scarred cells taste noticeable different from beer made with yeast cells grown at optimum starter pitching rate??