Going to try a yeast starter

First, that's about twice as much DME as you should be using for a 1L starter. General rule is 100g per liter of starter wort. Also don't poke holes in the foil. You completely get rid of any protection from infection that foil gives. You will get enough air exchange by just putting the foil on it.

What's your OG?

 

It's great that you're going to make a starter for your beer. A couple things though as I read through your process.

.5lbs of DME in 4.25 cups of water (which is ~225 grams in just over a liter of water) will create too high gravity a wort for what you're trying to do. Typically we aim for a starter of 1.030 to 1.040 specific gravity, and the common method of getting there is to add 1 gram of malt extract for every 10 milliliters of wort (e.g. a 1 liter starter would have 1000 mL, so you would use 100 grams to make the starter). If you're not sure how much of a starter to use, I'd suggest going to mrmalty.com and using the pitching rate calculator there.

You probably don't want to poke any holes in the foil. Loosely fitting the foil over the top of the container will still allow for air transfer when you shake the starter, and will keep any wild yeast or bacteria out. Holes in the top of the foil will serve as a possible entry point for stuff you don't want in your starter.

 

You can calculate your OG here. Loose foil is fine and will not pop off as long as you have sufficient head space. Airlock is not as good because you don't get the air exchange and you don't produce as much or as healthy yeast.

 

I've found that my beers are much better since I've been making starters. I use a cup of DME in a quart of water. Otherwise just as you say. I use a Growler with a drilled cap and airlck and have had no problms with viability.

 

I'd recommend reading everything about yeast starters on these two sites...

www.mrmalty.com
www.yeastcalc.com

 

IMO you can make another leap forward by sizing your starters according to the OG (and type) of your beers. Mr. Malty calculator is a big help for that.

 

That (2.86L) sounds like it's for a 'Simple Starter.' There is a dropdown box in the calculator where you can select other types, such as 'intermittent shaking' (which means you qive your flask a swirl every once in a while). This will reduce the size you need by keeping the yeast suspended and keeping the solution oxygenated.

Two days may be enough, depending on yeast strain, temperature, how much you swirl.

 

One other thing you might want to consider: a lot of us like to decant the excess fluid from the starter so that you don't get off flavors from the starter 'beer.' It probably wouldn't make much difference with a 93 IBU IPA like you're planning, but ... every little thing you can do to make the beer better helps, right?

If you want to try this, here's what you do: when you're starter is finished fermenting (two days should be plenty of time), put it in the refrigerator the night before brewing day. Take it out in the morning. You'll notice the yeast has formed a layer on the bottom and the fluid has cleared considerably. Put the starter somewhere where it will slowly warm to about pitching temp (~68F) while you're brewing. When it comes time to pitch, pour off all but about one inch of the fluid, then swirl that around so that the yeast is in suspension, and pitch it. Good luck!

 

Does that say 'boil for 1 minute'? Seems like that would be not nearly enough to sanitize.

 

I just got a new grill with a side burner. Has anyone used that to boil their starters right in the Erlenmeyer Flask? I'm thinking it's the exact same thing as a gas stovetop but thought I'd throw the idea off the large BA Homebrewer Crew!

 

I was under the impression that you're slowly killing off any potential infection sources as you're slowly heating up the starter. The extra minute of boiling time is just an insurance policy. I've never brought my starters to a boil longer than a minute and have always had positive results.

 

I was surprised to ‘learn’ that you only need to boil for one minute to purify water:

“Boiling water is the most effective method of purifying it. To do so, you will need a heat source, such as a cooker or camping stove, and a vessel to hold the water. According to the Washington State Department of Health and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, you should bring the water to boil and keep it rolling for one minute to purify it. At altitudes above one mile, 2,000 meters, you should increase the rolling time to three minutes.”

 

Hmm. I've always boiled my DME/Water for about 15 minutes. I'm curious what's ideal, 1 minute boil, or 15 minute boil.

Last night I did a test to see how much volume I was losing to a 15 minute boil in my 'starter' pot. It was about 550ml.

I knew to calculate boil off for my kettle to properly determine initial water volume (I use BIAB method), but for whatever reason, I never bothered to do that for my starters. My last starter had 200g of DME and wound up only hitting the 1500ml mark on my flask. Little strong, I think!

 

Since I'm making a starter tonight for Sunday's zombie dust clone, I'll use this 1 minute boil 'technique'. Glad I dropped in to read this thread!