My First Liquid Yeast Starter WLP007

[Wez]

Right I’ll be kicking off a starter tonight (I think) of WLP007 ready to Brew J_P’s Hop Monster on Sunday afternoon.

Having never done this before does this method sound correct?

Sterilise Everything
Dissolve 200g spray malt in 2L water (to get ~1.040)
Boil for 15 mins
Cool to pitching temp
Transfer to demijohn
Shake to aerate
Pour in the yeast vial
Add bung and airlock
Let it do it's thing
By Sunday it should be going well enough to pitch into the wort??

Is tonight about right for kicking it off for a Sunday brew? It’s 3 days before?

Cheers, Wez

 

[J_P]

Looks good to me Wez. 200g spraymalt in 2l would be 1.020 which is ideal. I'd keep swirling it every so often to get as much oxygen in there as possible as this is what they need to reproduce.

You could be cutting it a bit fine for Sunday however I had a recent starter of WLP530 build to pitching levels in 3 days so you never know.

You could always step it up with another litre of malt solution and grow it up for another week and do it next weekend, this would be beneficial if you're doing a double batch.

 

[Wez]

Hmm, maybe thats what I should do, get it up to 3L and pitch 1.5 per 25L FV.

How do you 'know' when it's ready to pitch?

 

[Wez]

Right just pitched the Vial of WLP007 in the hope that it'll be ready for Sunday evening, do I pitch it when it's fermented out?

 

[J_P]

It'll be ready when there is a big thick layer of yeast on the bottom of the DJ.

I'd siphon the spent wort off and not pitch it. Add some cooled wort from 10 minutes into the boil to wake the yeast up.

I generally taste the spent wort prior to brewing to make sure it's clean

 

[Wez]

Thanks JP

What I brew on Sunday depends on what happens with this starter now :?

If it's ready then Sunday will be JP's HopMonster

If it isn't it'll be Big Kenny with Bobeks with the usual s04

If it isn't ready i'll want to split the yeast between 6x 500ml bottles so is that just a case of taking the starter up to 3L fermenting out, resuspending the yeast and splitting into the PET bottles?

Loads of questions eh! :grin:

 

[J_P]

I've never done it myself but that's the way I'd approach it

 

[Wez]

Airlock bubbling away nicely today

I've given it a good swirl to aerate it a bit more, might move the brew back to Monday evening for 2 reasons....1) The starter has more chance that it will be ready 2) I'd forgotted that Sunday is our anniversary Mrs Wez wouldn't be happy if I spent the day brewing :shock:

 

[Wez]

Starting to worry...

The airlock is bubbling once every 6 or 7 seconds but I had been expecting a head to have formed by now - but all I have is a few patches of bubbles?

I've swirled to aertate and there is a white layer building up at the bottom - is this normal or should something different be happening :? :pray:

 

[MEB]

Ditch the airlock and cover the top loosely with some silver foil. This will stop flies and the like getting in but enable air to flow. Yeasties need all the oxygen they can get-air is 80%(79%) nitrogen and 20%(20.9%) oxygen. Swirl as often as you can and keep at 16-18C. My starters always take 4-5 days to fully ferment out. Usually nothing happens for the first 24hrs. You can tell when they are really going for it when you swirl. You'll get a big frothy head appear.

It all sounds like it is being perfectly normal to me.

 

[Wez]

Here are a couple of pictures of how it's going, I seem to have a good layer of yeast building up at the bottom, i'm swirling regularly to aerate, how much longer do you think it'll take / how do I know it's ready?

 

[MEB]

That looks like a good layer of yeast there. When you swirl does it just make the bottom layer come apart in lumps or does it mix straight in? If it comes apart in big lumps then it's probably done. Does the 'wort' look a little lighter than when you started?

I'd say, by looking at your pic's that it's either done or very close.

 

[Wez]

It comes apart in lumps, onto the next stage tomorrow then, bottling, i might split it into 4's.

I asked this on another thread, but I may as well ask here too:

Are clear PET bottles OK?

Whats the easiest way to flame the neck of the demi?

 

[mysterio]

Looks good and ready Wez, I bet you could split that 6 ways if you wanted, you'll need to make a new starter each time if you're going to split it though.

Just flame it with a lighter, clear bottles are fine.

 

[Wez]

So - just to confirm.....

Tonight I plan to boil and cool 3L water
Tip out the wort leaving the yeast
Add cooled boiled water swish about
Flame neck and split

Thats right innit :?

 

[Dunfie]

Why do you flame the neck of the demi? How does that work? :hmm:

 

[Wez]

I think it's to kill any wee beasties.

All done - my first batch of split yeast I just hope that they grow on and are not infected when I come to brew:

WLP007 - Done!

Edit - Is there a temp range that these should be stored at ?

 

[Vossy1]

Well done wez
Personally I store them in my kegerator at 11-13 deg c, but that's only due to the fact I have no where else, though without a fan to aid recirculation I find the bottom of the K to be more like 4-7 deg c.