Starter Stepping Question

[dk21]

So I've made a few yeast starters, but it's time for a big beer. I need to step this one and I've never done that before. I've run the numbers through a pitching calculator and need two 1 liter starters. Would one of you folks who are more experienced than me verify that my process is correct (or point out what's wrong)?

1. Tonight - make 1 liter starter, put on stir plate
2. Tomorrow night - put in fridge to drop the yeast
3. Wed night - remove starter from fridge a couple of hours ahead of time, decant excess starter beer, make new 1 liter starter, add on top of yeast, return to stir plate
4. Thursday night - return to fridge to drop yeast
5. Friday - brew day - remove from fridge a few hours before pitching, decant excess starter beer, pitch.

Is that all correct? Also, I'm assuming that the foil I put over my flask is fine to leave on while in the fridge, or should it be sealed somehow?

Thanks for your help!

 

[sfgoat]

You may want to give a little more fridge time to ensure all yeast drop out of suspension but 24 hours should be ok. When you decant the liquid do it as soon as you pull it out of the fridge. If you warm it up first the yeast will begin to float back into suspension. Otherwise everything looks ok.

 

[Hopper5000]

agreed with above. i usually don't cold crash for all that long, basically overnight so I am a little different that the advice above. as far as the foil i never really sorry about the air sucking in part. you could bung it up or put a rubberband around it but i never do and haven't had any problems so far.

 

[dk21]

Awesome. Sounds like I'm on the right track. I would have liked to start it yesterday to give a little extra time but two things stopped me...laziness, and the uncertainty that I would be able to get Friday off, but mostly the laziness part!

 

[rideincircles]

I may have to follow along this route of a stepped starter.

I made a 2 liter yeast starter on my stirplate Sunday and started cold crashing it, but just realized I did not add enough DME to the mixture. I think I added 2.3 liters of water and 2.3 oz of DME to the starter. I used a 1/10 ratio that was incorrect for what i was doing and really needed around 8 oz of DME.

Is my best bet to decant and add to a correct 2 liter starter and put back on the stir plate?

Have I harmed the yeast in any way by pitching into a low gravity wort (1.0115 is a guess)?

This seems my best course at this point. Any comments or thoughts?

 

[Heine81]

decant once they are settled on the bottom, and step again, i might only count that as your first step.

YeastCalc shows only a growth factor of 1.12 with that gravity as the first step.