I was not planning on brewing this weekend. However, i had some free time become available to me and i would like to brew a barley wine recipe that i have been working on. I have the equipment necessary for a yeast starter but i will only have today and tomorrow available to make the beer. I have two questions to ask: (1) should i go ahead and make the beer today (since i have the time) and start the yeast propagation today and possibly pitch the yeast tomorrow or monday? (2) Or should i just buy 2 vials of yeast strain? 1.0 pkg American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) [124.21 ml] Target: 1.098 SG 5.5 gallon batch
You need a pretty healthy dose of yeast for that OG, and volume. Two vials would be severely under-pitching. Why not brew something like a mild tomorrow, and pitch your Barleywine on its yeast cake in 2-3 weeks?
Since you are using the California Ale yeast strain I would encourage you to use the dry yeast of US-05 since it is the California Ale yeast strain and there is a lot of yeast cells in a packet. Two packets should provide sufficient yeast cell count to properly ferment a Barleywine. Cheers!
I would never bother making a starter for 1056 when I can just buy US-05. My time alone (not to mention DME) makes 1056 a bad deal.
As stated above, just use US-05. 2 or 3 packs is plenty of yeast, cheaper than liquid, and saves time without making a starter.
