First stir-starter question

[Clifton]

I'm making a 500ml starter with my new DIY stirplate. How long do you guys let the starter go before crash cooling and using/freezing with glycerine solution? Thanks

 

[Hammy71]

I usually do my starters 48 hours before I brew. For only 500ml you could probably get by with less. I don't crash cool my starters anymore either. I simply turn off the stir plate when I start my all grain brew. By the time I'm ready to pitch, the yeast has settled enough that I can decant most of the wort with no problems.

 

[stevo155]

For anything under 1500ml, I don't cold crash. I try to pitch around 18 hours.

 

[Powers]

so long as the starter is going well, i will pitch within 24 hours, although i've waited 48 hours before. usually they start to go down in activity by 48 hours, but they've at least had a chance to grow and reproduce.

 

[Scimmia]

Depends on what you're trying to do. If you're growing up yeast from a slant or frozen sample, I usually let them go two days minimum for each step, as they're fairly big steps. If making a starter from a commercial vial/pack, 24 hrs usually does it.

At 500ml, I'm guessing you're either starting with a small amount of yeast, so you want to wait a while, or you're just trying to get the yeast active, so as little as 12 hrs should work.

 

[Clifton]

I'm building up yeast for freezing. So I guess 48 hours is a good starting point.