Starter "liquid"

[Tombo]

When making a starter are there any alternatives to DME or LME that might be common in most households ie would honey, golden syrrup, fruit juice etc be ok? I know not just sugar but for those times when you don't have any DME or LME to hand what do you use?

 

[RichardM]

Save some wort next time you brew and put it in the freezer. Then the following brew, use the saved wort for your starter.

 

[Tombo]

Save some wort next time you brew and put it in the freezer. Then the following brew, use the saved wort for your starter.

I have done that in the past but I'm meaning when you don't have anything like that, are there any alternatives at all please?

 

[peebee]

When creating a "yeast starter" you are growing yeast cells, not fermenting sugars. So, the sugar is immaterial (within limits), and any significant growing is done before obvious signs of fermenting. The yeast does recognise there is sugar (reacting to mystical biological stimuli well outside my knowledge) and grows accordingly. BUT! The nutrients available to the yeast which it will need to grow are not immaterial. And as you already know, plain white sugar is no good, because it contains no nutrient. As for the others you list .... they all contain impurities from which the yeast might find suitable nutrients. But who knows? You can risk it but don't risk harvesting the yeast for future brews.

I've heard of people going to the trouble of creating mini mashes for starter liquor (boiled for a few minutes, but no need to add hops). The information I have suggests you keep starter gravities between 1.030 and 1.040 (ideally).

 

[Stan's Brew]

Do you want to make a starter ahead of time to increase yeast volume? Then the DME/LME route is the safest to achieve this.

If you are making a viability starter then you could do this on brewday by taking a portion of the mash and by the time you are ready to pitch into the fermenter then you should be able to determine if there is any action in the jar (with a packet of spare dry yeast on hand if the starter doesn't look viable).

 

[The Baron]

Maybe try some yeast nutrient with whatever you use

 

[crowcrow]

I do 'no chill' - so once my wort has started to boil, before I add hops, I draw off a litre and a half. I fast chill this in ice and then use a start plate to get a starter going. By the time my main wort has cooled to room temp, usually 24 hours, my start is booming along nicely.

Obvs doesn't help if you aren't doing no chill, but just a thought of how you can do things differently.

 

[Davegase]

When making a starter are there any alternatives to DME or LME that might be common in most households ie would honey, golden syrrup, fruit juice etc be ok? I know not just sugar but for those times when you don't have any DME or LME to hand what do you use?

If you're going to the trouble of making a starter with liquid yeast make sure you've got some malt extract !
Plan ahead or make sure you've got some dried yeast in stock for emergencies.