Fast Pitch Wort in a can

I tried them, they work just fine. Handy if you don't have time or will to make a starter

 

Note that it is not quite the instant starter product it looks like at first blush. It's 2x as concentrated as you want a starter to be, so you want add sterile water. It's for you to decide whether this is a significant improvement on starting with water, a measured amount of dme, and then boiling and cooling.

 

I'm not seeing any info on the OG of the wort. NB makes it look like you just crack one open, try not to drink it, and pitch with your yeast. The reviews look pretty bias too.

$2ea. Sounds like I'll just pick up another satchel of US-05.

 

The instructions reveal that it is intended to be diluted with 1 volume of water. 16 oz of canned wort + 16 oz water = 1qt starter. I'm assuming therefore that the OG of the canned stuff is around 1070-80 and diluted is 1030-40, but I didn't see gravity numbers addressed explicitly

 

whats the point if you have to boil the water to dilute anyways?

 

I suspect you could used distilled water and safely get away with it 99.9% of the time.

 

Ah. I should have assumed that when it said that one can, 2C, was good for a 1L starter. 4C ~ 1L

 

Second running of stored yeast. There's going to be 2C of beer on top of my stored yeast. If I'm lazy enough to buy this stuff, I'm lazy enough to pour a mason jar of beer and yeast into a flask.

 

I agree about the DW. To me, that's one more thing to buy and stock, but the more I think about it, there is a bigger issue for me. This product might be worth it if I could buy it in a pinch. If a local store stocked it, I could see myself running out to get some starter when I suddenly realize I am out of DME or need a starter in the next hour or two. But since I have to mail order it, it requires advance planning and waiting. I could make, cool, and can a lot of starter while I wait for my package to be delivered. I guess if I were out of DME and knew I would have to make starter in a pinch three business days from now...

 

I assume since it's canned that it is fairly non-perishable, couldn't one just stock up on a bunch in one order, then be set for the next few months or what have you? I wonder what sort of expiration date it has? Admittedly it might be nice to avoid the whole boiling/cooling aspect of starter creation. Pop a can, add some distilled water and yeast and you're good to go.

 

If you leave a tea kettle permanently on your stovetop, you may already have a pint of boiled and cooled water available.

 

ugh... I WANT to love these. Got a 4 pack as a gift. I think it's a great idea but I SWEAR I didn't get the same yeast activity i typically get when making a starter of the same strength with DME. The beers with the fast pitch starters just couldn't attenuate as far as I would like, and I feel like the lag time was longer. Was this possibly due to ANY other number of variables? Of course! I just haven't been back to using them since.

 

When you make DME starters, do you add yeast nutrient to the starter boil? If so, did you add it to the canned starter?

 

The cans already have yeast nutrient in them.

I use them all the time and when you compare the cost of the can vs increased risk of contamination from boiling and cooling a starter, cracking open a can and getting the yeast working right away in the wort seems like a much better solution.

In the end, saving a dollar or two by only using DME just isn't worth the hassle of making a starter for me. But that's just my $.02 :-)

 

during the course of my home brewing career, I've invested in multiple Erlenmyer flasks, in multiple sizes, small ones for storing yeast, and large ones for big starters, especially lagers.

The best thing about these flasks is I can boil in them to sterilize them.

I wouldn't be able to sleep at night using these cans without boiling the water I have to add, and I really don't see them as much of a timesaver with that considered. Really cool idea tho.

 

Do not and did not. More of the reason I am perplexed because I thought the fast pitch cans included yeast nutrients. Oh well. Maybe I'll give them another shot.

Cheers!