Starter poll

I usually make my starters a few days ahead of time. I try to give them 36 hours or so on my stir plate, and then cold crash them for at least 24 hours before what should be the end of my brewday. I'll take the flask out of the fridge to warm up at some point during the brew process, and then pour off a good amount of the liquid before I shake up the yeast with the rest and pitch. I don't doubt that pitching at the height of fermentation has its benefits, but I just hate the idea of adding that starter wort to my beer.

 

I do starters for almost all of my beers (exceptions would be dry yeast, or an ordinary bitter at 1.036 + fresh yeast).

The starter goes into the frige, and the starter beer is decanted. Taste the starter beer and see it you want that in the beer you are pitching into.

It is also better if the starter yeast is a little colder than the wort it is getting pitched into.

 

Pretty much the same as previous posts... I've been using dry yeast a lot lately (lot of APAs, IPAs - Notty and Milk Stouts - S04), but when I do starters I'll start ferment out the starter, cold crash and decant the starter liquid, then pitch the yeast from the starter (resuspended in the cooled wort). For my sours I never do starters, I just either underpitch or use more packs.

 

I used to make the starter 24-48 hours in advance and pitch directly. Last year I got a stir plate, and now make the starter earlier, crash, and decant. My understanding is that the constant aeration of a stir plate is great for the yeast but makes a lousy tasting "beer", so it's best to decant.

 

Lately I've started making a session ale more often than a starter when using a new liquid yeast (especially one I have not used before). Basically I do a quicker-than-all-grain partial mash plus extract batch to approximately 1.040 or less, usually go pretty light on the hops and specialty grains. This gets me a quick fermenting session ale that really let's me see what the yeast brings to the table. Typically it is ready to bottle in a couple weeks, at which point I usually make 10-12 gallons of all grain which I pitch on to the 'yeast cake' from the session ale, split between 2 6.5 g. carboys.

When I've done starters I like to add them while still active, or, if the timing doesn't work out, cold crash them in the fridge till ready to use.

 

So for those of you who put the starter in the fridge, do you simply keep it covered with foil, use a foam plug, or a airlock? I generally make a starter, but I have never cold crashed and decanted. I have to admit that the fridge environment scares me a little bit in terms of potentially contaminating the starter. So what is the best practice for keeping things clean in the fridge?

 

I keep the foil on it, but I can see that could draw air in when chilling. No problems yet.

 

Since this thread is a pseudo-poll then I assume repeat opinions are welcomed.

I make my propagation starts far enough ahead to put in the refrigerator so I can decant. I leave the foil/foam as is and put a piece of saran-wrap on w/a gum band.

Then I I take the starter and a mason jar of sterilized wort and put then in my fermentation chest which is about ~62*F sdo the can equalize to just under pitch temp. Around four hours before I pitch I decant and add the sterilized wort.

 

I almost always crash and decant. My recipes don't include 'starter beer' as an ingredient.

 

I take a Wyeast activator pack and split it to 4, sometimes 5, vials. This is the equivalent to their propagator packs.
During the week I will start one vial into 500ml stirplate starter.
24hr later I step that up.
24-36hr after that I cold crash. That is usually where it sits until brewday.

As I am chilling the wort I pull the starter out of the fridge, decant and swirl it around. I think getting rid of starter wort as I take it out of the fridge helps it warm a little faster, but still not to much time warming.
Pitch, sit back and rotate frozen water bottles.

I typically do not harvest yeast and repitch.

 

I drink my starters as well. I typically start by making a couple of gallons of a low gravity beer. I try to keep the required yeast cell count within an acceptable range of a single smack pack by adjusting gravity and volume of the wort. I'll let that ferment out and I'll bottle it while I'm brewing a bigger batch, or I'll bottle the day before if I have time. I do a quick wash of the yeast using distilled water and pitch what's needed into the batch I'm brewing.

 

I've just started making starters, no pun intended, but I plan on decanting every one.
I've only made one so far, stepped it up once and man my stout took off, had a huge blow-over.
This was after refrigerating and decanting.

 

I make my starters 24 hours prior to brewing and I pitch the entire contents into the wort. I do not utilize a stir plate; if I did use a stir plate I would not pitch the entire starter out of concern for pitching oxidized beer.

The OP may be interested in reading what Jamil Zainasheff states on this topic in his article “Making a Starter” (Zymurgy March/April 2007):

“I like to pitch starters while they're still very active and as soon as the bulk of reproduction is finished, usually within 12 to 18 hours. This is really convenient, because I can make a starter the morning of the brew day or the night before and it is ready to go by the time the batch of wort is ready.

Of course, if you have a large starter volume in relation to your batch of beer or a starter that was continuously aerated, then you probably don’t want to pitch the entire starter into your wort. Adding a large starter or a heavily oxidized starter to your wort can alter the flavor of the finished beer.”

Cheers!

 

I make my starters about 4 days before brew day (more if I step them up such as when brewing a lager). They sit on a stir-plate for 36 hours. I then stick the flask in the frig. On brew day I decant most of the now oxidized 'starter beer' and pitch.

 

I make mine a week in advance, put in the fridge after five days to cold crash, then decant and pitch the yeast cold.

 

24 hours? How many litres of start liquid are you willing to dump in your beer?

 

I am trying to get my brew ready to taste by the 28th of Sept. I just began my starter because I forgot to get it ready a couple days ago. I always used a 1000ml & 1/4# LDME starter. It is now cooled to pitching temp. I haven't pitched yet though. If I want to do what a few of you said above and pitch in 24 hours, should I dump off about half the starter before i pitch so that I don't have too much starter liquid in my beer as I don't have enough time to crash and decant?

 

Sorry, just writing this so I can "watch" the thread

 

If the yeast has flocculated to the bottom, then yes. If not, you're not only going to lose cells, but you'll be selectively losing the slower floccers.