chiefsbrew1
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How important are yeast starters I've been thinking of giving it a try
If using liquid yeast, I believe them to be indispensable for all my beers.
If using dry yeast, they are not indicated, not needed and not to the benefit of the yeast.
They are simple to make. As Yoda would say. "There is no try". Just make one.
There is a simple walkthrough of making one in my signature below.
Proper temperature control is more important than having lots of yeast.
i guess it depends what you mean by lots of yeast.
if you mean over-pitching, then you might be right.
if you mean propagating enough to have the proper pitch rate, then you're wrong. unless you're going for a style that allows for some residual esters.
temp control isn't as important in belgian styles for example. not entirely important for heffeweizens either.
and then there are these:
http://brulosophy.com/2014/12/15/the-temp-at-which-we-pitch-exbeeriment-results/
http://brulosophy.com/2015/01/19/fermentation-temperature-pt-1-exbeeriment-results/
http://brulosophy.com/2015/06/22/fermentation-temperature-pt-3-lager-yeast-exbeeriment-results/
http://brulosophy.com/2015/05/11/fermentation-temperature-pt-2-english-ale-exbeeriment-results/
in all four different experiments with ferment temps. the only one that reached statistical significance was the english ale. but even the writer of the blog suggested that if he was served one right after the other without knowledge of the switch, he likely wouldn't have even noticed. they were that similar.
now take into consideration that he is doing a proper sized, healthy yeast pitch into these beers. so to say that one is more important than the other is off base at best. in these experiments it seems to show that if you pitch the right amount of yeast, then ferment temps aren't too big of a danger in fairly normal sized beers (although all of those styles are arguably styles that you should be able to notice that difference right away because of their balanced nature).
but then they've done experiments on starters vs. single-vial only. and starters vs. same day vitality starter (which will make the yeast vital and ready to go, but isn't enough time for there to be significant cell growth). and those experiments showed no statistical significance. yet on those he had proper ferment temps.
on the single vial, though, he saw a major difference in lag time. which if someone didn't sanitize very well, would have likely been enough time for some infection to take hold.
so to write-off either temp control, pitch rate/health, or sanitation as less important than the others is off base, at best.
Another alternative you can use is the Drauflassen technique as described by braukaiser (http://braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?title=Drauflassen)
In a nutshell, you are brewing a full batch of wort, chilling to pitching temp, but only pitching yeast to a portion of the batch (usually 1/3 to 1/2) thereby requiring less yeast, waiting 24-36 hours for low krausen and then pitching the second part of the wort "on top of" (which is where the expression Drauflassen derives its meaning) the already-fermenting wort. Basically what you're doing is making a big "starter" if you want to think of it that way, albeit you are doing it at the proper fermentation temperature and at the correct pitching rate. When you add in the second part of the wort on top of the already fermenting beer you are basically introducing fresh sugars that the yeast are eager to consume. In addition, according to what Kai says, there is no ill effect of aerating the second half of the wort right before you pitch it, since the active yeast will readily consume it quickly. Per Braukaiser's site, Narziss reports that "that this technique is beneficial to the attenuation and the ester levels of the final beer. The latter are reduced because the yeast is kept longer in its growth phase during which it consumes the ester precursor acetyl CoA [Narziss, 2005]" I will admit this seems odd to me, as what we are taught is that rapid yeast growth produces *more* esters, but who am I to argue with Narziss?
I have used this technique a couple of times with great results. Bottom line is, it prevents you from having to have a huge-ass starter to ferment a bigger batch of beer. It is also known as "double-batch brewing" in most american craft breweries and typically is employed when they have huge fermenters, but a smaller brew plant where it takes subsequent batches to fill them to capacity.
Proper temperature control is more important than having lots of yeast.
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