Hopefully brewing a double batch this weekend, and had a few questions about a yeast starter. This would be my second batch and first with liquid yeast and a starter. I have a 2L flask, stir plate and magnet bar, so that's how I'm going to approach it. I'm making Northern Brewer's La Petite Orange ( http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/...d-edition-extract-kit-w-specialty-grains.html ) with Wyeast 1214 Belgian Abbey, OG of 1.052. I have an order coming in on Friday with Briess Golden Light DME so I will be making the starter Friday afternoon. All the literature I've read seemed to imply 2 cups water for 1/2 cup DME is a good ratio, but apparently there are some yeast calculators out there... Any tips on how big the starter should be and how long I should wait before brewing if I make one on Friday?
Do you have any way to weigh your DME? 10 grams DME per 100 ml of water produces a 1.035 - 1.040 wort. 100 grams per 1000 ml should be plenty. Thats the ratio I use and it's pretty common. I would let your starter ferment at least 24 hours and then refrigerate it for 12 hours or so. After chilling, decant the extra liquid leaving just enough to swirl the yeast that dropped out to the bottom of the flask back into suspension. Let that yeast come to room temp and pitch into your wort. Starter on Friday afternoon, pitch on Sunday afternoon.
So.. this is saying a 1L starter for a 1.052 og beer with stir plate? What should the ratio of DME / water be for that though?
Sounds about right. But be sure to enter the yeast packaging date into the calculator. The Wyeast pack will have a date on it, and you want to make sure to input that so the calculator can account for attrition of yeast cells. The ratio stays the same, regardless of volume: 10g DME per 100 ml water. Which means 100 grams per liter (or 138 grams for 1.38 liters, etc.) Yep, you need a scale that can weigh grams if you want to do this right.
Just remember, that like fermenting vessels, you need room for headspace. Here's a starter I stepped up last night from 1L to 2L in a 2000mL flask. Should have been (was) obvious that it was probably going to get messy. Glad I put it in the bowl.
So for the 1L total for the starter, is that just 1L of water and 100g of DME or is it 1L combined? I also don't have an accurate way to measure grams yet... Any approximate volume I can use for 100g?
I have always heard that you put in your 100 grams first, then fill to 1L (so the actual volume of water is going to be slightly less than the full 1L.
I've always measured water and DME separately. At the risk of needlessly overcomplicating this, I usually use about an extra 1/10th of the total volume of fluid I intend to end up with-- ie, if I want to wind up with a 1 liter starter, I use 1.1 liter of water-- and then pour the DME in once the water's warm for easier mixing. That's because you're going to lose some volume through evaporation. And btw: Watch for boilovers! That's a classic newbie mistake everyone has made. It sucks to have to clean that stuff off the stove. 100 grams of DME is around 2/3 or 3/4 cup, depending on how tightly it's packed. As long as you're in the ballpark, it'll be fine. You'll get plenty of yeast growth even if you don't hit the ideal SG right on the nose.
