Starter volume

[Rlawlyes]

When making a yeast starter do you go off of the starting volume or the final volume? I fill my flask up to the 2L line, bring it to a boil, add the DME, and boil the wort for 10 mins ish. Once finished I end up with roughly 1.8L in my flask. So would I technically have a 2L starter or 1.8L? I know the difference is minimal, but I am trying to dial in my starter process to make sure I am getting the correct pitch rate.

 

[mongoose33]

I typically do 1-liter starters. I add 1000 cc of RO water to the flask, add a pinch of yeast nutrient, then add 100g of DME. I boil for 5 minutes, then chill.

I lose a minimal amount of volume during the boil; I'm surprised you'd lose .2 liters in 10 minutes.

And as far as whether it's 1.8 or 2.0, I wouldn't be concerned either way. Are you crashing the starter after it's finished, decanting off the spent wort, and then pitching? If so, it doesn't really matter. What matters more to the yeast is how much food you give them.

BTW, I always pitch the entire starter into my wort. It tends to lower the OG by about a point, but the result is always great.

 

[kh54s10]

I boil in a pot then add it to my flask. I start with the amount I want the starter to be. I bring it just to a boil. I don't think you need to go even 5 minutes. I don't lose any measurable volume.

 

[Jag75]

Depending on how much you brew , check out canned wort starter. It's about 3-4 $ a can but theres no boiling . Just add to flask fill can with distilled water add that and yeast and your done. If your brewing a lot it might not be easy on the pocket book .

 

[Rlawlyes]

Thanks for the feedback guys, I think I am boiling for too long. I usually just dump the whole starter into the fermenter liquid included, but I am going to start decanting because I am already pushing my fermenters to the max volume.

 

[yourlastchance89]

Thanks for the feedback guys, I think I am boiling for too long. I usually just dump the whole starter into the fermenter liquid included, but I am going to start decanting because I am already pushing my fermenters to the max volume.

You shouldn't have to boil long. I am pretty much guaranteed a boilover when doing a starter so as soon as I see it begin to boil, I cut the heat and begin cooling.

 

[day_trippr]

No reason to boil DME for more than an instant. Indeed one can avoid even boiling DME at all, safely. Pasteurization temperature vs time curves are our friends.

I bring the required water to a boil in a pot, take the pot off the stove and set in the sink, stir in a couple of drops of Fermcap, then mix in the DME. Lid and let sit for a couple of minutes, then start filling the sink with cold water to chill to pitching temperature. Then, pour the wort into my e-flask, add yeast and stir bar, and get it all spinning.

Zero risk of sugaring my wife's brand new SS gas range, which is of prime importance
And I've never had an evident infection...

Cheers!

 

[sleev-les]

Depending on how much you brew , check out canned wort starter. It's about 3-4 $ a can but theres no boiling . Just add to flask fill can with distilled water add that and yeast and your done. If your brewing a lot it might not be easy on the pocket book .

Funny this comment is here.. Just over the weekend the local shop convinced me to begin using starters since I was buying multiple yeast packs to get my cell count. This time I got a stir plate, graduated cylinder and used the canned starter. I think this will be my way forward since I started seeing activity in about 3 hours after pitching. 1 canned wort is still cheaper than 3 packets of yeast in my case.

 

[kh54s10]

Funny this comment is here.. Just over the weekend the local shop convinced me to begin using starters since I was buying multiple yeast packs to get my cell count. This time I got a stir plate, graduated cylinder and used the canned starter. I think this will be my way forward since I started seeing activity in about 3 hours after pitching. 1 canned wort is still cheaper than 3 packets of yeast in my case.

Are you using dry yeast packets? If so you don't need to make a starter with those. They are engineered with nutrients as sterols that you will use up in the starter thus possibly pitching yeast that is not as healthy as if you didn't make a starter.

I don't know where you live, but here in Florida, multiple dry yeast packs is cheaper than making a starter, especially if you use the canned starter wort.

How big of a beer are you making? 3 packs seems like it would only be necessary for something in the range of 1.100 beers. I have used a single 11 gram pack in beers up to about 1.075 without problems. Yes it does take longer to start, but for me that has only once been longer than 12 hours. Most times it has started sometime during the night from a late afternoon pitch.

If your packs are liquid yeast, yes - always make a starter.

 

[sleev-les]

Are you using dry yeast packets? If so you don't need to make a starter with those. They are engineered with nutrients as sterols that you will use up in the starter thus possibly pitching yeast that is not as healthy as if you didn't make a starter.

I don't know where you live, but here in Florida, multiple dry yeast packs is cheaper than making a starter, especially if you use the canned starter wort.

How big of a beer are you making? 3 packs seems like it would only be necessary for something in the range of 1.100 beers. I have used a single 11 gram pack in beers up to about 1.075 without problems. Yes it does take longer to start, but for me that has only once been longer than 12 hours. Most times it has started sometime during the night from a late afternoon pitch.

If your packs are liquid yeast, yes - always make a starter.

I was using liquid for the starter. I used muliple packs prior based on a pitch calculator. I'm only doing 5.5 gallons at the time I pitch, but went off the count of the calculator. I'm still in my first year of homebrewing so the calculator was my go to. I've used dry and liquid. I have like liquid more and think liquid with a starter seems to be my preferred after how this weekend went (in a good way). But you're right, dry is not too expensive.

 

[Jag75]

If you ever get pressed for time with a starter check out shakin not stirred starter. It works great, especially when deciding to brew on a whim.

 

[sleev-les]

If you ever get pressed for time with a starter check out shakin not stirred starter. It works great, especially when deciding to brew on a whim.

I'll def look into that. Worst case, have dry yeast as my backup .

I'm fortunate that I have a local shop with a good selection within 30 minutes so my brew on a whim options are pretty open