Comments on: Making a Yeast Starter for your Home Brew Beer

By: Brad Smith

Brad Smith — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 18:54:25 +0000

You generally don’t need a starter when working with dry packets – they only need be hydrated about 15-30 minutes before pitching. You need to make sure you have enough packets to achieve your pitch rate however. In the BeerSmith 2 yeast starter tool there is a calculator to help you determine the number of dry packets needed as well as the hydration needed.

By: John

John — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 13:28:09 +0000

I recently began making a yeast starter, and to minimize costs I used a packet of dry yeast rather than a liquid vial from White Labs or someone else. Everything seemed to work fine, but I am wondering now whether it would have been better to avoid using the dry yeast in favor of the White Labs vial. What do you think? Does it matter whether you start with one rather than the other?

By: Starter vs. no starter - Page 4 - Home Brew Forums

Starter vs. no starter - Page 4 - Home Brew Forums — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:14:47 +0000

[...] is to stay open-minded, strive to always learn more and work towards improving your technique. Making a Yeast Starter for your Home Brew Beer | Home Brewing Beer Blog by BeerSmith Brew Your Own: The How-To Homebrew Beer Magazine – Story Index – Yeast – Make a Yeast Starter: [...]

By: Kleinabunen

Kleinabunen — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 02:08:50 +0000

I’ve followed these instructions and it’s now 12 hours later since I’ve initiaited this yeast starter, how do I know it is a success?

By: JIm

JIm — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 13:05:57 +0000

Hello, I made a starter for the first time, just wondering if I pitched it right. I used 1 cup DME with 2 QTS. of water let it sit at 65 degrees for 48 hrs. It was pitched into a 5 gal Belgian Grand Cru Possible 8-9 abv. Thanks for any help.

By: Tom Perkins

Tom Perkins — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 17:16:39 +0000

I use molasses in a starter for bread, will that work for beer?

By: matt g

matt g — Sun, 22 May 2011 20:25:52 +0000

Hi,

I have about 1 liter of clean yeast I’m planning on using. How much DME should I use to get it going in a starter?

thanks

By: Brad Smith

Brad Smith — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:24:53 +0000

Chris,
If you are making a 1 gallon starter, I would say you do not need a two stage. Much larger than that, however, and you should probably consider it.

Brad

By: Chris B

Chris B — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 18:39:14 +0000

If you are making a larger starter, say 1 gallon, do you have to do it in two steps? or can I simply use about a pound of DME and a gallon of water and pitch my yeast into that for a big starter?

By: Brad Smith

Brad Smith — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 18:38:20 +0000

Thanks Felix,
I appreciate the kind comments – happy brewing!

Brad

By: Felix

Felix — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 08:35:14 +0000

Brad, great advice and great article, especially for any newbie to the yeaster starter area (like me). Thanks for the help and wisdom. I, and my friends who drink my homebrews, thoroughly enjoy it.

By: Brad Smith

Brad Smith — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 02:04:07 +0000

Chris – with a little planning you can easily account for the extra liquid in your brew – since it is added post boil, just reduce the amount of your “trub loss” by the size of your starter. — Brad

By: chris

chris — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 21:19:33 +0000

what about the additional 2 liters of liquid you’re putting into the wort how do you account for that

By: Brad Smith

Brad Smith — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 14:19:08 +0000

I would probably start with a 2 liter flask – Brad

By: Joseph

Joseph — Sat, 11 Sep 2010 18:08:40 +0000

What size and type glass flask would you use to make a yeast starter for a 5-gallon batch?
Thanks.

By: iamvav

iamvav — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 21:11:25 +0000

Will overpitching result in a yeasty flavor in the finished beer?
I have a 10 gal batch lager that came out yeasty, and I am hoping the second 5 gal keg will have mellowed.

By: Brad Smith

Brad Smith — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 01:28:48 +0000

Felix – Overpitching (too much yeast) is unfortunately not good for your beer either. If you overpitch, the yeast do not live through a complete yeast cycle and the beer will not ferment well and the yeast will have poor viability at the end of fermentation.

By: Felix

Felix — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 23:28:02 +0000

What are the downsides (if any) to using an unnecessarily robust yeast starter? I.E. using 3 liters on a lower gravity five gallon ale batch.

By: Tour Golf Blog

Tour Golf Blog — Wed, 05 May 2010 00:48:49 +0000

Perfect. This is exactly what I needed to know. My recipe doesn’t have a DME, only LME and some grain, so I think I’ll need to pick up some DME for the starter. I’m shooting for an 8% ABV brew so I’m sure a starter is going to help get it there.

By: Wyeast Belgian Abbey II Smack Pack - Home Brew Forums

Wyeast Belgian Abbey II Smack Pack - Home Brew Forums — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 04:11:09 +0000

[...] well ( a bit more time will give you more cells ). Check this walk through of making starters. http://www.beersmith.com/blog/2008/04/01/making-a-yeast-starter-for-your-home-brew-beer/ __________________ —————– Future Brews : English ESB, Lemonade Shandy experiment, [...]

By: Brad Smith

Brad Smith — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 08:22:12 +0000

Yes, I would recommend doing a step-up starter if you are going to do a 10 gallon batch from a single tube or pouch of yeast. You can roughly double the size of the starter for a 10 gallon batch over the sizes shown in this article to get your total starter volume.

By: Darkshadow

Darkshadow — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 16:08:10 +0000

Could you please clarify the size of a starter for 10 Gallons? Do I make a 1 liter starter, then add it to a 4 liter starter for a 5 liter total, or do I add a 1 liter starter to a 3 liter starter for a 4 liter total?

Thanks!

By: thargrav

thargrav — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 00:48:32 +0000

A stir plate will dramatically increase your starter volume because it keeps the yeast from settling out into a sediment in the bottom of the flask. This way all of your yeast can grow & multiply instead of just the yeast in the top layers of the sediment.

But the greatest benifit of pitching a starter is that you are pitching a active, growing yeast culture. And by doing so, you bypass the first two stages of yeast development and go straight inter fermentation. You air lock will be bubbling within an hour!

By: Chad

Chad — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:54:18 +0000

Jamil Zainasheff has a pitching rate calculator that makes it easy to figure out how big a starter you need. http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

There are variables for ales vs. lagers, use of stir plates vs. shaking the starter and reusing yeast slurry from previous brews. All in all a pretty handy tool.

Chad

By: Brad Smith

Brad Smith — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 20:20:31 +0000

Yes,
I would expect that a stir plate would increase the yeast growth. I found a reference that indicates that using a stir plat can increase the number of yeast cells by as much as 50% if the starter is also properly aerated.

By: Jeff Louella

Jeff Louella — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 20:08:14 +0000

Would the use of a stir plate help increase the amount of yeast growth. Say instead of 150b with a 1L starter, you get 200b in the same starter?

By: Brad Smith

Brad Smith — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 13:56:05 +0000

Rep – I usually pitch the whole thing into the starter and then pull a new sample for the next batch. You can reuse yeast for 5-6 generations before it is time to buy fresh yeast.

By: Rep

Rep — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 13:00:42 +0000

If I am washing and reusing yeast, how many ml’s would I pitch to the starter above?

TY – Nice article.