One or Two Steps

[Conehead]

I own a 3 L and 5 L flask for my starters. I have always wondered if I should do a stepped starter, or just go with one bigger starter. I am currently doing a 2 step lager starter. 1 L to a 3 L. My yeast is 17 days old. Could I of just done a single step starter of 4 L? What is the cut off date on yeast that you should do a two step starter?

 

[Jtvann]

Two step starters have larger yeast growth than one for a given volume. Try to pull up about any app or brewing program to run the numbers.

The largest single stage starter I'll make is 3L. Even that I'd not as good as 1 then 2, but out of laziness a single 3 is ok. Anything higher than 3, I do in stages.

Programs will tell you the optimal amount for each starter size. Ballpark rounding is ok.

2nd starter needs to be larger than the first and so on. This becomes more important with brewing lagers, especially higher gravity lagers, or lager batches. I personally never needed to make a staged starter for a 5 gallon ale of typical OG.

 

[Conehead]

Thanks for the reply. You explained it very well.

Cheers.

 

[deuc224]

2 step, you get more yeast.

 

[VikeMan]

What is the cut off date on yeast that you should do a two step starter?

There's really no such thing as an expiration date for yeast. Some brands have a "best by" date, which is IMO pretty much meaningless. A yeast pack 2 days past "best by" has almost the same cell count as one 2 days before expiration and a lot less than a brand new pack. The key is to figure out how much yeast you need (want) for a given recipe, estimate how much you already have (age affects this), and determine the best starter size(s) to bridge the gap. As mentioned, brewing programs (or standalone yeast calculators) can help with that.