Ok. I have made yeast starters in the past with no problems using a pot and a glass jug. I bought a 2L flask figuring I can boil the starter and pitch the yeast into the same vessel. Also I can eventually use a stir plate. Well. I boiled my water like usual and took the flask off the stove. Added the DME and whoosh! Boiled up and out and all over the place. What the heck did I do wrong? I waited for the boiling to stop before adding the DME as well.
Think I figured it out. Northern Brewer has a video that shows adding the DME to the water before boiling. Since I add dry extract to boiling water I thought that was the way to go. Live and learn
DME + warm water = easy, tranquil mixing and something to do while waiting for the water to boil Edit: Add hops and skip the decant for a real simple, fast starter : )
I don't think I would ever add hops to a starter. They inhibit yeast growth. How much I dunno, but 'any' inhibition would seem to be counterproductive.
Easy...wasted beer. That may change with lagers, but for ales I routinely make 2 litre, <24 hr, lightly hopped, non-decanted starters with excellent results.
Jamil Zainasheff pitches his yeast starter (he doesn’t decant): “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.” Cheers!
Jamil is the man! Thats good. Making my non-volcano starter tonight for a Saturday brew day. Thanks all!
Jamil has also said that he crashes and decants large starters. I crash and decant all of mine. The starter worts are not part of my recipes.
OK. So better luck last night on making the starter. I am a bit worried though. The yeast is a harvested 1056 from a month ago that has been chilling. I poured off the top and let it warm to room temp. Then pitched the slurry into my starter. Swirling off and on all night but this morning no sign of activity that I can see. Was my yeast dead?
Don't worry . . . be optimistic. My starters with new yeast seem to take off after a couple of hours. But my most recent "washed 1056" took forever. It was 18 hours before I saw the first sign of activity. Then it behaved normally.
