I'm adding the whole darned starter

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by redgorillabreath, Mar 27, 2016.

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  1. redgorillabreath

    redgorillabreath Zealot (511) Mar 29, 2015 Pennsylvania

    I have 5 quarts of starter that's chugging along. It will not have settled by this afternoon for me to decant it.

    Does anyone with madd brew skilz have any tips for any adjustments to make for compensation?

    This is going to be a high OG batch, so maybe I'll just collect nearly all first runnings to finish up with about 4.5 gallons after the boil, add the starter, and let the good times roll.
     
    #1 redgorillabreath, Mar 27, 2016
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  2. inchrisin

    inchrisin Pooh-Bah (2,013) Sep 25, 2008 Indiana
    Pooh-Bah

    Make your OG higer than you planned by 5-10% or just add more sugars by boiling the wort for 2 hours before adding your hops. You can make good beer, but don't expect exceptional beer out of 5q of oxidized, unhopped, weak beer. The point of a starter is good yeast count. This isn't on the same playing field of good drinking beer.
     
    #2 inchrisin, Mar 27, 2016
  3. redgorillabreath

    redgorillabreath Zealot (511) Mar 29, 2015 Pennsylvania

    Yes...this wasn't my Plan A. Thanks for the reply.

    The starter is coming along more slowly than other strains that I've worked with, and now I've got a bunch of DME invested in the starter. Due to personal schedule issues, today's the day so I'm going to make the best of it.

    Although I haven't tried this before (adding the whole starter), I'm planning on getting about 4-4.5 gallons post-boil. All of the hops would be present. Also, I've handled the starter wort the same way as I have actual batch wort (including no splashing hot wort around), so I'm not particularly concerned about oxidation.
     
    #3 redgorillabreath, Mar 27, 2016
    inchrisin likes this.
  4. telejunkie

    telejunkie Savant (1,107) Sep 14, 2007 Vermont

    Good rule of thumb I've tried to follow is that your yeast starter should never be more than 10% of the batch, although I will try to keep it below 5%, if direct pitching. In other words 1qt in a 5.5 gal batch or 2 qts in a 11gal batch is generally my max. If the starter is bigger than that, I'll make the starter a week out so that I can decant. I'm sure it'll still be good if everything else goes well, but definitely recommend planning ahead in the future. Best of luck!
     
    #4 telejunkie, Mar 28, 2016
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