As I was paying for the ingredients for a ryePA I was brewing last Saturday (Apr. 14), the owner at my LHBS suggested I pour another quart or so of water through the MLT after sparging to collect wort for a real wort starter on a future batch. The idea, as many of you know, is that there should be enough residual sugars left after mashing a beer of such gravity--the OG on this batch was 1.070--to create a wort between 1.030-1.040, thus suitable for a yeast starter. I ended up collecting around a gallon at exactly 1.040, (which aslo makes me question my sparging procedure...). Anyhow, It's been in a tupperware container in the fridge since then... nearly a week. Is there anything quality-wise to worry about considering it's been in the fridge for so long? The same guy actually gave me some runnings for a RWS about a week or so earlier, but the wort was only a day old. I used it on a starter for some WLP001 I had washed and it fermented out my amber ale very well. So what do you think? Can I just boil, cool and pitch? Thanks
One week in the fridge is OK but if you're not going to use it within a week or so...then I'd suggest putting it in the freezer. Otherwise...boil...cool...pitch and count the savings from not using a pantload of DME. I collect a 4th running to make starters. The gravity is usually around 1.020. About 2 oz. of DME are needed to get it up to ~1.035.
Yep, boil, cool and pitch. Though I occasionally collect second runnings, I usually collect some wort from the boil of a moderate gravity beer during the boil, dilute to 1.035 or so with some hot water and pour into old plastic juice bottles. Fill nearly full, seal and shake a little to make sure everything inside is good and hot, then set aside until it's reasonably cool. Pop it in the freezer. A week, or a year, later put it in the fridge a couple of days before you want to make a starter, or even cool room temp if you're in a hurry. When it's thawed, sanitize the outside of the bottle, open up and add it to your starter vessel with the yeast and pop an airlock on. Proceed as with any starter. This method certainly does not meet the criteria for sterility but it works for me. I have never had any tasteable contamination from doing this. And it's great for lazy, cheap brewers like me because it costs essentially nothing in materials or labor. Beats the hell out of canning wort in mason jars in a boiling water bath for sure and I've not noticed any difference in the final product. Do note that I have a dedicated beer fridge so there is nothing else in the freezer but hops. Your frozen wort might not be so happy next to frozen fish or garlic sauce.
Okay, I figured boiling would be enough. Thanks for confirming. I'm a bit surprised there isn't more chatter about these things. Seems to make a lot on sense versus the DME alternative.
For whatever it costs to buy a 3# bag of DME you can make a little over 13 liters of starter. Mine usually costs 12-13 so thats about a dollar for a 1L starter. I don't think that's so bad. I would think there is not much more chatter because you are saving an almost trivial amount per batch ($1-2) and spending extra time and effort on dealing with this. Just my thoughts. I wouldn't spend an extra 20 minutes total to save a couple dollars.
Not sure what your regarding as "extra time and effort." I poured a quart of water through my grain bed, drained and refrigerated. Not really any more effort than purchasing and stirring in some DME, then storing the remainder of your bulk purchase. Not to mention the perceived utility of creating your own fermentable atmosphere rather than relying on a bag of processed powder. You're right, $12-13 is not so bad, but a "free" six pack of bigfoot or nugget nectar is much better, IMO. No big deal either way. Cheers
Like herbmowing and skivtjerry I do this all the time. I would have definately boiled it before putting it into the fridge. I usually collect about a gallon of starter and boil it. Then I pour the boiling hot wort directly into sanitized erlenmeyer flasks with the stirbar already in there. Foil over the top and refridgerate. When it comes time for some yeast I just take the flask and the yeast out and put it on the stirplate. I do not have to worry about temp changes because they are the same temp. Works great and I have never had a problem.
I take a final running and boil it down into a concentrate. It usually starts around 1.025, and I boil it down by at least half. I take a reading on it before making my starter. I save freezer space with 1.050 or 10.60 wort.
IMO...this is not the most practical or economical choice given the current cost of fuel + the time it takes to reduce the volume by 1/2. Then again...attitudes at 37°N may be different than those @other latitudes.
Yup. Our electricity is the cheapest in NA in MB. That volume can easily be boiled down on the stovetop. Yes, and I *need* the excess heat most of the year (PS: I love incandescent bulbs, they produce the heat I need for cheaper than my furnace, damn gov't ban
