How to make a yeast starter

[Paddyg84]

Have seen plenty of people talking about making a yeast starter. How is this done and why? What are the benefits?

 

[Pfeffer]

I'm not very familiar with brewing, but regarding the yeast starter it self; technically you just make a small batch sugar solution (usually simply wort) where you pitch yeast in. In this solution, yeast multiplies (it's a living organism) so in reality you're just increasing your cell count and acclimatizing your yeast so that they can make a good start in the wort.

Perks;

- High cell count
- Faster fermentation (and therefore less risk of infection)
- The pitch contains more cells and can therefore chew down high OG wort easier (to high OG can be hard to break down for a small culture)
- Cheaper (you need less bought yeast to come to the same result, mostly for larger brews)

 

[yeastinfection]

http://www.brewersfriend.com/2009/08/19/how-to-make-a-yeast-starter-og-1040/

try this

 

[teadixon]

It seems a PITA to begin with but when you've done it a couple of times it starts to seem easy.

From my (limited) experience it sets of fermentation rapidly and from what I've read is the only way you should use liquid yeast.

 

[DoctorMick]

It seems a PITA to begin with but when you've done it a couple of times it starts to seem easy.

From my (limited) experience it sets of fermentation rapidly and from what I've read is the only way you should use liquid yeast.

I agree with that, the first time I made one I felt overwhelmed and it seemed difficult but really it's very, very simple.

 

[MyQul]

To illustrate the point of a faster fermentation with a starter;
I've fairly recently started using the Shepard Neame yeast strain (cultured up from a bottle of SN 1698) as my house yeast. The second time I used it I harvested the whole yeast cake from the first time I used it and chucked the whole thing into some wort. It took 3 weeks for full ferment out.
I then harvested that yeast cake and made a two litre starter with about 1/3rd to 1/2 of that yeast cake and chucked it into my wort. I did this last Monday. I took a gravity reading yesterday, as I was going to rouse the yeast anyway, and it seems to have completey fermented out in just 5 days. I'll take another gravity reading on monday to make sure its finished before I package the beer
Admittedly it was fermented 3 degrees warmer this time at an ambient temp of 20C (so more like an actual temp of about 22C) but I think doing a starter is definatley the way forward for me. Rather than being lazy and just chucking the yeast cake in the wort as is

 

[TheRedDarren]

Starters are defo the way forward for me, one litre starter pitched at 24 hours old which is pretty much the start of high krausen. In other words I make the starter the evening before a brew day and chuck the whole thing in once I've reached pitching temperature, so long as the starter is no more than 5% of the batch volume. It gets the main fermentation going within a few hours and will ferment out a few days quicker, and seems to produce pretty consistent fermentations.
Simple starter recipe is 100g of DME and 1/4 teaspoon of yeast nutrient into an erlenmeyer flask with a litre of hot water from the kettle, boil it for ten minutes then put the flask straight into iced water to cool to pitching temp, just use some sanitised foil crimped over the top of the flask - no need for an airlock.

 

[MyQul]

I also forgot to mention that I was quite surprised to see it start fermenting after about an hour. Usually my wort starts fermenting the following morning

 

[Godsdog]

To illustrate the point of a faster fermentation with a starter;
I've fairly recently started using the Shepard Neame yeast strain (cultured up from a bottle of SN 1698) as my house yeast. The second time I used it I harvested the whole yeast cake from the first time I used it and chucked the whole thing into some wort. It took 3 weeks for full ferment out.
I then harvested that yeast cake and made a two litre starter with about 1/3rd to 1/2 of that yeast cake and chucked it into my wort. I did this last Monday. I took a gravity reading yesterday, as I was going to rouse the yeast anyway, and it seems to have completey fermented out in just 5 days. I'll take another gravity reading on monday to make sure its finished before I package the beer
Admittedly it was fermented 3 degrees warmer this time at an ambient temp of 20C (so more like an actual temp of about 22C) but I think doing a starter is definatley the way forward for me. Rather than being lazy and just chucking the yeast cake in the wort as is

is there a how to do thread on this subject myqul as cant seem to find one

 

[MyQul]

is there a how to do thread on this subject myqul as cant seem to find one

I'm not sure. I dont recall seeing one. I'll have a look later and if there isnt I'll do one unless anyone else wants to

 

[Godsdog]

I'm not sure. I dont recall seeing one. I'll have a look later and if there isnt I'll do one unless anyone else wants to

cushty as I have a commercial bottle with unrefined yeast in

 

[MyQul]

cushty as I have a commercial bottle with unrefined yeast in

Are you wanting a guide as to how to culture up yeast from a commercial bottle or a guide on how to make a starter for for when you buy a yeast from one of the yeast labs/want to put some of your own harvested yeast from the bottom of the FV (or even top cropped) .If it's the former I wrote a guide on how to do that a little while ago
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=53567

 

[wfr42]

Darrent pretty much nailed how to make a yeast starter.

 

[MyQul]

Darrent pretty much nailed how to make a yeast starter.

Yeah, he did, didnt he. I even liked his post. How come I didnt even realize he'd outlined how to make a starter

 

[wfr42]

I think I'm going to have to get a flask.

Did starters with reclaimed (6month and 3 months old) dry yeast for my last 2 brews in the kilner 1 litre bottles I had stored them in.

First time I went with 50g dme in 500ml for 36hrs and this week did 70 in 700ml for 24hrs (due to the 1litre bottle size). They both needed 24hrs to start bubbling but they've both worked, despite my worries of underpitching. Definitely a confidence booster before investing in liquid yeast/yeast slants.

 

[MyQul]

Just to point out, you dont HAVE to use a erlenmyer flask.I just boil my starter wort in a cooking pot

 

[wfr42]

That's what I have done for my two to date, just feel i need a larger vessel so I can do a full litre starter to help cell count.

 

[johnnyboy1965]

Starters are defo the way forward for me, one litre starter pitched at 24 hours old which is pretty much the start of high krausen. In other words I make the starter the evening before a brew day and chuck the whole thing in once I've reached pitching temperature, so long as the starter is no more than 5% of the batch volume. It gets the main fermentation going within a few hours and will ferment out a few days quicker, and seems to produce pretty consistent fermentations.
Simple starter recipe is 100g of DME and 1/4 teaspoon of yeast nutrient into an erlenmeyer flask with a litre of hot water from the kettle, boil it for ten minutes then put the flask straight into iced water to cool to pitching temp, just use some sanitised foil crimped over the top of the flask - no need for an airlock.

Agree with everything you say, but one thing.
1li of water and 100g of DME will give you a gravity of 1.100. This is way too high. You only need 20g of DME to give you a gravity of 1.020. This is the ideal gravity for a starter. Dont forget that you want the yeast to grow/multiply/divide... not to ferment.
The use of a heat safe flask is ideal, but dont plunge it straight into cold water. Though the manufacturers say its impossible to break the flask if you do this, Ive had one shatter. If you place the tin foil over the top during boiling there is no need the sterilizethe foil.

 

[cheapbrew]

yes I agree you only need a small amount of dme I use about 10-15g, put it in a clean pet bottle and screw the lid on tight and shake the **** out of it for 30 secs, release cap and pressure but leave the cap on but not tight, do this every time you pass the bottle throughout the day and you should have a nice starter ready to pitch the next day.
I did this for starters and recently made a stir plate, there are lots of debates about shaken not stirred, but both methods work well for me, the stir plate just does the mixing instead of me.

 

[strange-steve]

Agree with everything you say, but one thing.
1li of water and 100g of DME will give you a gravity of 1.100. This is way too high. You only need 20g of DME to give you a gravity of 1.020.

:nah:
RedDarren is quite right, use a 10:1 ratio of water to DME to give a gravity of 1.035. So 100g in a 1L starter is correct. 20g in 1L is nowhere near enough, that'll give a gravity of about 1.002.