Liquid Yeast starter for dIPA

[1QUOTE="GreenKrusty101, post: 3357454, member: 273528"][/QUOTE]

Yes, starters are typically ~1.040, which seems to be ~ the ideal gravity to get the yeast reproducing initially. Too high a gravity and the yeast will get slovenly with all that available food. : )

Why not just use 2 sachets of dry yeast? There will be plenty of time to concentrate on growing starters later...for now I'd concentrate on your basic beer process. Cheers and good luck.

 

Google, Yeast Starter, and you'll get some ideas, write ups, books and videos.

You ideally, need to have a stir plate, but if not.. use a growler if you've got one around.

Sanitize it well.

Pull your yeast pack out, warm it up.. smack it, or shake the vial.. whichever.

Look on mrmalty.com and find out how much yeast you need. It'll tell you how many ml's you need for a starter.

Boil up some DME and water, with yeast nutrient to the correct amount based on the calculator.

Pour into the growler.. cool it down to pitching temp, or lower.. Ideally, lower, IMO. Add yeast once cooled, shake it well, and then leave it be. Put an airlock on it, or use some foil over the top.

Shake it randomly, several times a day. Should ferment out, then crash it down in a day or so, decant most of the liquid. Swirl the yeast around and pitch it in your beer.

But read up on it... it's not that hard.

 

Don't bother with a starter, use 2 packs of dry yeast (US05 or S04 or Nottingham) instead or if there is a liquid yeast you want to use, do a small beer first (APA then DIPA).

 

Easy. Yes. You need a starter if you are using liquid yeast. Chances are, you need a starter 95% of the time with liquid yeast, IMO, if you are only using one vial/pouch.

2 packs of dry would suffice, and be easier if you aren't looking for anything from the yeast.

 

Dry yeast isn't necessarily inferior to liquid yeast...in fact, I'd even say there is little quality difference at all from my experiences (attenuation, time to complete fermentation, off flavors, etc). I'll take 05 over 1056 any day!

 

As would I.. For what I'm going for, if I don't need anything particular from the yeast but to stay out of the way, can't beat the dry us05 versus making a starter of 1056 or 001.

 

Just want to reiterate that the your premise that liquid yeast is better than dry yeast is out of date. There are several companies that make some good dry yeast, especially for the type of beer you are brewing. Fermentis S-05 is probably the most widely used dry yeast for the American Pale Ale family (including IPA and IIPA). I have probably used it for about 15 beers and have used the liquid counterparts (White Labs 001 and Wyeast 1056) for about a similar number. The differences are small.

 

Why not just use 2 sachets of dry yeast? There will be plenty of time to concentrate on growing starters later...for now I'd concentrate on your basic beer process. Cheers and good luck.[/QUOTE]

I definitely agree with that.

As you progress, if you like brewing bigger beers fairly often, then a stir plate and flask will save you some money on yeast in the long run. As an added bonus, they lend a nice science lab vibe to your kitchen counter.

 

As will brewing a small beer and then pitching on the whole yeast cake ~ a week later...haven't tried that yet with dry yeast, but it it's a time AND money saver for sure with a good liquid yeast... If you can brew on consecutive weekends, etc.

 

I've pitched on cakes from US05 a lot of times, no problem at all. I highly recommend planning multiple beers so you can reuse the yeast, saves money and time and no need for a starter.

 

Kind of curious how folks do this?

Do you just leave everything from the carboy in until the next weekend, brew your new beer and then just dump it right back in the carboy or is there some other way to do this? I would assume that you would have to somehow separate the trub and gunk from beer #1 to get to the yeast so that it doesn't adversely effect beer #2 no?

 

Just rack first small beer off of yeast cake, then dump new wort on the cake...I use buckets, so there's not much to it.

No separating necessary...just dump it it...hopefully they are similar beers (other than the gravity)

 

I'm not going to get into it too much right now, but some of this advice is crazy (been drinking, and in my experience, drinking and posting can lead to some embarrassing situations!). Over pitching can be just as bad as under pitching. If you use liquid yeast, make a yeast starter and use the mr. Malty pitching calculator for a great estimate of how much yeast to use. You should aerate your wort well to make the best beer possible if you use liquid yeast. If you go with dry, you probably need two packs. It should be rehydrated and does not require aeration. If you can't aerate, I would recommend dry yeast. Take care of your yeast and it will make great beer. "Brewers make wort"

 

Pretty hard to over-pitch most styles for a homebrewer...just say'in...cheers

 

I've seen this said before, but I've never understood. If you pitch a beer onto a yeast cake without pulling out some yeast, you are bound to be over pitching.

 

A lot of home brewers dump new wort over a yeast cake, but this isn't the best/beneficial way to go. Over pitching can actually lead to under attenuation, lack of desired esters, and possible acetaldehyde.

 

Most of the problems with over-pitching often quoted (from the book, "Yeast" usually) are rare in the 2nd generation if viability and vitality are good...which should be the case for 1 week old yeast that has just finished fermenting a 1.040 beer. Can't speak to every conceivable circumstance, but it seemed to work just fine for a couple of massive Barleywines I have brewed.

Under-pitching is usually a far greater problem for most homebrewers. Cheers

 

I usually dump out some of the cake to avoid overpitching and too much trub in the second beer, but I have never really noticed a difference either way.

I agree with @GreenKrusty101 that underpitching is likely to be a bigger problem for most homebrewers. Cheers as well