First yeast starter

[kcbrewmeister]

Am planning on brewing my first brew this weekend an plan to use a yeast starter. I will be brewing an amber ale from a kit and I purchased white labs yeast. I have been looking through several sources on how to make a yeast starter but I still have a few unanswered questions. My first question is how much wort for the starter do I need? I have read that the ratio should be .5 cups dme to 2 cups water but do I just need the 2.5 cups? My second question is how long to let the starter sit before pitching into the beers wort, I have heard anywhere between 1 to 3 days with various reasons. Finally, I suspect this is more personal preference, should I boil the dme in the flask or a separate pot? Will foil covering the top help prevent a boil over?

 

[A4J]

2.5 cups is right. I do mine right on the flask. I use 1L of water + 3 oz of DME the night before.

 

[3PegBrew]

Am planning on brewing my first brew this weekend an plan to use a yeast starter. I will be brewing an amber ale from a kit and I purchased white labs yeast. I have been looking through several sources on how to make a yeast starter but I still have a few unanswered questions. My first question is how much wort for the starter do I need? I have read that the ratio should be .5 cups dme to 2 cups water but do I just need the 2.5 cups? My second question is how long to let the starter sit before pitching into the beers wort, I have heard anywhere between 1 to 3 days with various reasons. Finally, I suspect this is more personal preference, should I boil the dme in the flask or a separate pot? Will foil covering the top help prevent a boil over?

You really only need to have the starter going for about 2 days. By day 2 you will have enough healthy warriors to do battle with those mean sugars.

Boiling is your own preference. It is easier to do a boil over with a flask. So if you don't mind having a slight mess on your hands (even if you are careful) go flask. That way your flask is already sanitized from the boil. If you use a stir plate, throw your stir bar in with the starter as it is boiling. DO NOT put foil on it. The foil during the boil will promote a boil over. Stick with foil during fermentation if you don't have an airlock.

 

[kcbrewmeister]

Ok I will plan on starting it two days before. Thanks for the help!

 

[3PegBrew]

I strongly suggest going on YOUTUBE and checking out BobbyM's videos of brewing. He helped me out with a lot of things when my LHBS was at a loss for answers. He also shows some cool ways to upgrade....

 

[HerbieHowells]

The size of the starter you need depends on the amount of yeast you need to propagate to get a proper pitch. If you know your anticipated original gravity, you can use the Mr. Malty pitch calculator to determine the size of starter you need.

John Palmer has a few issues to consider about when to pitch the starter.

 

[Gear101]

how long before the starter bubbles like a hot tub.. i did one tonight 1/2 gallon to 8oz of extra DME? about 3hrs ago and very little going on?

 

[bluebrew17]

honestly, I do my starters 24 hrs before. I pour 1000 mL into my flask to measure it, then pour it into a big (too big) stainless steel pot. that handles the boilovers real well.

boil water
add 1 cup of DME
boil for 10 mins
spray pieces of aluminum foil with isopropyl alcohol
cover the pot as it cools
dip the pot i a bigger pot of cold water to cool it
sanitize your flask and funnel
once cool, pour wort into flask, make sure its not over about 800 mL so you dont have a foam problem
i dip the white labs vial in sanitizer, then open it, shake it up, pour it
cover with isopropyl alcohol sanitized aaluminum foil

 

[HerbieHowells]

how long before the starter bubbles like a hot tub.. i did one tonight 1/2 gallon to 8oz of extra DME? about 3hrs ago and very little going on?

Just like fermentation, give it time. I pitched my first (and only, so far) starter at 9:30 the night before a morning brew day. By the time I woke up at 7:30 or so, it was bubbling away.