BeerBorg

Since my LHBS started carrying White Labs yeast in Pure Pitch packets I stopped making starters. But I was buying 2 packets for each 5-gallon batch. At $6.95 a packet, I was spending nearly $14.00 more to save time. Then I started to notice the 'Best By' dates on half my order ranged from 5 months from the date of purchase to just 1 month.

Around a month from the best by date White Labs recommends making a starter which in effect sunk my plans of not having to make a starter. So yesterday I bought a pound of extra light DME and 2 pure pitch packs instead of 4. So here I am having my morning coffee listening to the whir of a stir bar in the background. I really don't mind making starters the biggest pain for me is having to cool the starter wort. I realize now while taking shortcuts I have been missing out on one of brewing's most rewarding processes.

I always overbuild and actually 1 pack for me lasts for 4 or more brews saving me lots of money.

It's funny but I actually enjoy making a starter. Like a mini brew you know you are not going drink, but getting ready for the real deal. Fun to watch it progress on the stir-plate. I don't like re-hydrating dry yeast and would rather pitch another pack if needed when using it. Usually if I do a 1 LT. I put the whole thing in, 2 LT I decant. Usually light DME but sometimes wheat DME, depends on what I am making and what I have around.

ScrewyBrewer wrote: I really don't mind making starters the biggest pain for me is having to cool the starter wort. .

Yea but that small amount cools down really fast (about the time it takes me to drink a beer or two) and being a starter and not a drinker, high 70's doesn't matter. All yeast love the warm.

I usually harvest yeast from the fermenter, but I've made two starters recently. No stir plate, just bottle and shake.

PRO TIP:
Stop making starters with expensive DME.
Start saving and using wort from your last batch instead.

Herb, I've often thought of your idea and read about it but as most of my beers are in the upper 1.050 and lower 1.060 range, that's a problem for me using them as starters.
But since I get many starters out of one pack of yeast, I figure I save anyway so I guess it's a wash for me.

Simply dilute the 'high' gravity wort with some boiled / cooled water.

The target gravity for a starter is 1.030 to 1.040.
IIRC ... if the source wort is 1.060 add an equal volume of water and you end up with 1.030.

But I like making starters with DME. But whatever works to get you where you want to be. 30 minutes of work has always done fine by me but your idea is s good one as well.

John Sand wrote:I usually harvest yeast from the fermenter, but I've made two starters recently. No stir plate, just bottle and shake.

I made a lot of starters before I got a stir plate and works good. The stir-plate is just another gadget to have, but they do work good. I mostly use dry yeast but if making something special, I will use liquid and make a starter as per the yeast calculator I use. I would never spend the money for two liquid packs when you can make a starter so easy.

Making a starter felt like old times again. I split this one into two 5-gallon Kolsch batches a few hours after high krausen. I didn't even bother decanting them first. Once I made room in my freezer cooling the starter down only took a few hours. And at $6 a pound, I still have enough DME left over to make a few more.

Go big or go home!

2-3 years ago I stopped using stir plates and went to the "Shaken Not Stirred" method. I've found it to be faster, easier, and at least as effective. It does require a leap of faith when you first try it, becasue it seem so "unscientific". But after you've done it a few times and had success, you see what a load of BS yeast calculators and stir plates are. https://www.experimentalbrew.com/blogs/ ... new-tricks

I've heard/read about this method but am happy with the results that I get from about a 24-hour spin on my stirplate and pitching at high krausen. Given my schedule, I'm not around enough to shake it every now and then - and if I were, I'd forget!

This is good to know for those that are retired and/or have the time to shake, though.

Kealia wrote:I've heard/read about this method but am happy with the results that I get from about a 24-hour spin on my stirplate and pitching at high krausen. Given my schedule, I'm not around enough to shake it every now and then - and if I were, I'd forget!

This is good to know for those that are retired and/or have the time to shake, though.

You only really need to shake at the beginning when you pitch the yeast into the starter