Direct pitch White Labs Yeast

[perryni]

I am planning a witbeer this weekend and have got some WLP400 coming tomorrow.

White labs state that a vial can be directly pitched into a batch of upto 5 gallons (which my batch is) with a lag time of 5-15 hours but other Internet sources say I need a starter or 2 vials to pitch the correct amount.

Can I directly pitch a white labs vial without a large lag time?

Cheers
Nick

 

[graysalchemy]

Hi Nick

There was a thread on similar lines the other week here

I think the consensus was it is better to make a starter though it will probably start given a bit of time so be prepared.

:thumb:

 

[joe1002]

Also Whitelabs will be talking about 5 US gallons which is just over 4 UK gallons.

I would definitely make a starter :thumb:

 

[perryni]

Thanks to you both, I will make a starter on Friday and brew on Sunday.

I have never done a starter before and don't have a nice conical flask. I do have a 5 litre plastic demijohn, will this be ok to do the starter in?

 

[jonnymorris]

The beauty of a flask is you can sanitise your DME solution and flask all in one go. Not essential though just be meticulous about sanitation.

 

[mattrickl06]

I used to pitch direct to 25-26l and had a lag time of up to 48 hours which was ridiculous.

On my last Hefe i used a starter made from 1.5l of wort and it was bubbling fervently after 3 hours

 

[mike77]

I used a 2L water bottle. Poured half the water into a saucepan heated it through for a while allowed it to cool and poured back into the empty water bottle. A fresh water bottle should already be sterile so no need to wash it. Then just add the yeast and put the top on loosely so that the Co2 can escape.

 

[graysalchemy]

Then just add the yeast and put the top on loosely so that the Co2 can escape.

Did you add any fermentables you post isn't clear. :wha: :wha:

 

[pittsy]

Please note with wlp 400 (lovely yeast) you need to give your fv a gentle but good stir every 3 or 4 days ( avoid making bubbles) and it will take a good 2 weeks to ferment if not then it will take 3 weeks or even longer , lazy yeast .

 

[perryni]

thanks pittsy for the advice on wlp400.

I am planning a raspberry wit so I was thinking 5 days in the primary then rack onto the raspberries and leave for another 2 weeks.

I am brewing on Sunday and will be away until the following Friday when I intend to rack into the secondary. I would ask the mrs to stir but her attitude to towards homebrew is less than enthusiastic so maybe I wont ask her to stir it for me :grin:

So by your reckoning without stirring the yeast should have done its business after 3 weeks or so.

 

[pittsy]

Just mix it on friday all will be well :thumb:

 

[perryni]

Ok I made the starter last night and this morning I can see the yeast is doing its job nicely.

I made a 1.75 litre starter so I want to decant most of the wort off. As I am brewing tomorrow I was thinking of putting the starter in the fridge tonight to help pull the yeast out of suspension, is this ok?

 

[pittsy]

Yes that will be fine , try to get the yeast back up to pitching temp before using for brew (just helps) i would pitch the lot myself though . Hope all goes well , my 2nd fav brew :thumb:

 

[paddone]

It is safe to fridge the yeast to drop it out of suspension but I only do this to clean and store it.

If your brew day is tomorrow you can keep it out the fridge and pitch direct into your wort. The only reason to not do this would be if you don't want any of the fermentable in the starter (I assume DME) in the brew. In that case you have to fridge it or wait for the starter to stop fermenting.

If it was me I would pitch your starter into the brew to avoid shocking the yeast by quickly cooling and reheating.

Hope this helps.

 

[perryni]

Regarding the stiring to rouse the yeast, is the aim to get the yeast cake at the bottom moving around and back into the wort?

 

[paddone]

Rousing the yeast is indeed giving it a stir. The idea is to get dormant yeast under the active yeast layer into the brew to start to process sugars again.

It is not usually needed unless you have stuck fermentation. Is your gravity reading not changing? If not leave it alone. it will be at work even if there is not much airlock activilty.