So according this calculator (http://www.brewersfriend.com/yeast-pitch-rate-and-starter-calculator/) my initial starter is "not enough" for the lager I'm brewing and requires a "part 2 step up". What am I doing here? Do I just pitch the made starter into a new DME/water mixture? Brew it out the same and pitch that into my beer? TIA
If you have the time, refrigerate step 1 of your starter for a day or two, decant off most of the (clear) liquid and then add your new starter wort on top of that.
I plan for a week between starters. 24-36 hours for the starter to run its course and the rest for it to settle on the counter at room temp. Decant that and add it back to your cooled wort for step 2. Do you have a second flask?
Thanks. No I don't. Couldn't I just add my new starter wort to the brewed yeast in the original flask?
Assuming the flask is big enough, yes. (Usually (but not always), a second step is significantly larger than the first.)
Soooooo, lets say I built a 1400mL/1.040 starter, I would then be pouring that into XXXmL of "new" wort? What, 2800mL?
Depends on the gravity and volume of your beer wort, whether you're doing an ale or a lager, the age of your vial/pack of yeast (which is used to estimate your initial cell count), and the type of starter (frequent shaking or stir plate). Key concepts include inoculation rates and growth rates. Calculators can help with this. BrewCipher automatically recommends multi-step starter sizes where appropriate. You can (and many people do) just go with the default recommendations. But you can also tweak parameters if you want. Also, a lot of people (including me) like YeastCalc too, but you have to sort of feel your way through multi-step sizes by trial and error.
If you told us the OG, batch volume, age of your yeast and what kind of yeast, someone could tell you how to make a multi-step starter for this batch.
You do the best you can and hope for the best. Chances are ... despite your best efforts ... it turns out more than drinkable.
