Yeast Starter question

[BREWERS DROOP]

Hi all,i have a question regarding a yeast starter (never done before)

The last couple of brews i have used a smack pack 1187 Ringwood ale yeast,and the results i found were very different from dry yeast,and a problem of the pack not swelling up.

So i have made a starter with a litre of water and 100g dme,and is currently on the stir plate.I am making a 10 gallon batch and the question is,can this single smack pack starter be sufficient for 10 gallon? or can it be increased to do so.Its been on the stir plate for 14 hrs upto now.

Also do you drain the wort off fully leaving a small amount to swirl the yeast,or dump the 1 ltr into the fermenter.

 

[Martybhoy]

You can do a multi-stage starter and so increase the number of yeast cells to your requirements. I use beersmith yeast calculator online. Reliable, easy to use and free. For a 10g brew, you'll probably need to do a multi-step starter.

After 24hrs or so on the stir plate, I put my starter in the fridge. This allows the yeast to settle and firm up. On brew day, I take it out the fridge, pour of most of the wort, leaving the yeast and some wort in the flask. Allow to come to room temperature and come pitching time, swirl and pour the flask's contents into the FV. That said, a small starter of 1ltr, you'd be as well just adding it all in to the FV.

Sent from my Moto G (5) using Tapatalk

 

[BREWERS DROOP]

As regards the muli step starter,is that discard the wort and add another ltr of dme ontop of the yeast i have already cultivated and stir plate again?

 

[Simonh82]

As regards the muli step starter,is that discard the wort and add another ltr of dme ontop of the yeast i have already cultivated and stir plate again?

Essentially yes. Obviously make up the starter wort and boil for 10 min and cool to about 25°C. Give it 24h on the stir plate then pitch the lot. If you were making a massive starter for a lager for instance then it is good to decant the spent wort but for 1L just chuck it all in.

 

[peebee]

... I am making a 10 gallon batch and the question is,can this single smack pack starter be sufficient for 10 gallon? ...

It is what I've been doing. I'm having to do a lot of tuning, but not for the reasons you might suspect - seems I'm over-pitching.

Grew a WYeast 1099 in two steps to attain 1million-cells/ml/degree-Plato for a 45L brew at 1.066 (anticipated, actually 1.070). This is the recommended pitch rate for 1.065+. That went okay.

Grew a White Labs WLP002 in two steps to attain 0.75million-cells/ml/degree-Plato for a 45L brew at 1.065 (came out 1.058). The pitch rate was reduced because the last lot was quite enthusiastic. But this one fermented 1.058 out in 48 hours, the yeast filled up the "dead-space" in my fermenter, bunged up the transfer pipes, stalled my transfer pump ... it was being a menace!

So that should answer your question: There is no problem growing up these "25L pitchable" packs to pitch into 45L (10 gallons). Just be careful not to overdo it!

I use the (Brewers Friend online calculator) because it does steps. I use its "Braukaiser" growth model. I have 2x2L flasks with stir-plates. Most growth is done in 12-18 hours so each stage need only take 24 hours tops.

Next time for a 45L brew at only 1.042 I'll grow to 0.5million-cells/ml/degree-Plato which can be done in one step (<1 day) in <1.5L starter.