Wort For Yeast Starter

Is it more costly then buying another pack of yeast?

 

I don't make wort for a starter but rather use extra light DME. I'm not so sure that there is any substantial savings if using grain, maybe a few bucks. I always use extra light and the hassle of making a wort only to have it sit in a freezer seems like a big headache. I can also get the gravity dead nuts with DME.

I have seen canned wort available, specifically made for starters. And that's not cheap. I am fairly certain if canned wort is your solution one of those brew-bots that always seem to have a kickstarter campaign may be more appropriate.

That's me anyway.
Cheers

 

When I brew I collect some of the later runnings from my sparge in 1 or 2 liter bottles and throw it in the freezer when it's cool to the touch. Thaw for a day or 2 and it's ready to use.

 

I also always make sure I have an extra litre or two from pale mashes that I freeze. Very easy to knock up a starter from it. I do no sparge so it tends to be stronger than I need for a starter, so just dilute a bit when boiling it

 

Do you see any noticeable differences if using a dark starter malt in a lighter beer, or really any issues with mixing malt base? No matter how hard I try to decant, the yeast and spent starter wort always ends up in the bucket.

Cheers

 

I sometimes have more wort left in the kettle than I anticipate, and with kegging there really isn't much point in going over 5.5 gallons into fermenter, so I'll direct it into clean container and freeze it. Then for my next starter I'll throw it in a pot and re-boil it and dilute it to a lower gravity. Super easy. Super cheap

 

Another storage method, which I use, is to use a pressure cooker and mason jars to can my wort. I currently use DME but have been considering brewing a small batch of starter wort and canning it for future use. Still trying to determine if the time to mash and collect the wort is worth the extra effort.

Using this method I have stored my wort at room temp which also takes up less freezer space.

 

The method I use when doing this is to mix DME and warm water, close the lid on the jar and put into the pressure canner. Once in the canner and under pressure, the excessive heat sterilizes the jar and it's contents. Canning also seals the jars making them shelf stable as any spoilage organisms should have been killed in the canning process.

I use the method described here:
https://www.maltosefalcons.com/tech/starter-made-easy-pressure-cooking-your-starter-wort-ahead-time

 

This is a fantastic idea, thanks.

 

I don't generally save dark wort for this reason. If I did and color was a big deal, I'd probably wash the yeast before pitching.

 

I used to can wort in mason-type jars, either made from DME or second runnings, for starters. I started using your basic canning set-up, immersing jars in boiling water. As many on the internet point out, this will not necessarily protect you from spore forming bacteria, like that which causes botulism. This is because wort is not acidic enough to prevent the growth of those bacteria, if I remember the science of it correctly. Of course, the number of homebrewers who have done this and been sickened by botulism is zero, as far as anyone knows. Still, to further protect, I refrigerated the wort after canning.

A few years ago I upgraded my canning set up to a pressure canner, and used that. Now, in theory, no refrigeration is necessary, and I could store starter wort at ready to pitch temperatures (not that there is much issue with pulling it out of the fridge a few hours before you want to use it). I also stopped using second runnings because I switched to BIAB.

However, in the last couple years, mostly I've used dry yeast, using the easy sprinkling method. No wort, no rehydration, just trust that it will work out fine. The main reason for going with dry yeast is that I cannot predict when I have time to brew. Dry yeast is more shelf stable than liquid yeast, so if I mail order ingredients and than realize I can't brew this weekend, or the next 8 weekends, I'm not worrying so much about declining yeast quality.

 

I always throw a couple hop pellets into my starter wort, and boil the wort for 5 min or so before chilling. Aside from refrigerating, or freezing the canned wort, my guess is this should reduce any sort of spore forming bacteria? Assuming the canned wort isn't sitting for a crazy amount of time on the shelf

 

Thanks for sharing this! I always just make an appropriate starter a day or two ahead of time, but I like the idea of having these ready to go.