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Hi all,

I've been watching the basic brewing guys make their 6-pack batches and was wondering if anyone else has made a small batch (2L or so) instead of making the traditional 1L starter? I normally store my Wyeast in 200ml containers (make a 1L+ smack pack contents then divide into 6), and I reckon that one of these would be enough to get started on a 2L batch. Then I let the trub settle, syphon off my beer and use the yeast cake as the starter on the next full batch. The downside is that the starter batch would need to be lighter and less bitter than the full batch. Has anyone tried this? I have a Belgian Abbey yeast that's ready to split and I wanted to make a quick 6-pack of Belgian Pale ale then use the yeast cake to ferment a tripel I'm planning.

Cheers,

Tim

G'day Timmy,
A thought if I may...
The goal here is to make yeast, not wort. So, whatever the final volume of the starter is, you need to make sure that you've made as much fresh, viable yeast as you can. The best way to do that is to step up the starter. So, if you want to make 2L of starter, I recommend that you start with around 300ml to 500ml and gradually add more fresh wort every 24 to 36 hours until you have 2L of healthy multiplying yeast. So, you can start with 300ml, then step up to 600ml, then 1L, then 1500ml then eventually 2L all over a week or two. The beauty of adding wort is that you're continually challenging the yeast to adapt and multiply its cell count. Sure, it's more work, but you will be rewarded with plenty of fresh viable yeast for future use.

Anyway, it trust this makes sense but if you want to make a large starter volume, then don't start at 2L, start small and step up to make a large cell count when you've finally made the 2L starter volume...

Cheers,
TL

Hey Guys,

I followed a similar technique, to culture up the yeast from 4-5 CPA bottles. Firstly got it started on 200g of LDME and then pumped in another 300g of LDME wort, this took my 2l container up to about 1l, maybe 1.3.

That was now a week ago, but the airlock is still going strong! So last night I gave it a swirl up, then tonight I took a hydro which showed a reading of 1050 (this was done with the view of getting two consisten hydro readings over 2 days), but I guess I won't get bottle bombs as they will be stored in the fridge so the yeast should just go dormant?!

I'm a little perplexed here and this is holding me up as I have wyeast irish ale smack pack in the fridge that I want to culture into six stubbies, and then use on an Irish Red this weekend! Can I culture in another 2l pet bottle just using gladwrap? I'm assuming the relatively new smack pack will chew through it a whole lot faster than the CPA yeast.

I also see that several people are storing in test tubes and smaller packages, how big? Any recommendations on where to source them?

rohanbutler wrote:I also see that several people are storing in test tubes and smaller packages, how big? Any recommendations on where to source them?

50 mL. eBay.

If i am making a starter from a smackpack (either of them) then i simply dump it directly into a 2L malt solution (SG 1.040). Its what it says on the back of the propagator packs. If i use the larger activator packs i generally pour of a few samples to save. Altho i do sometimes just dump the activator pack straight into the wort and then harvest the trub.....

So what is the best method? split before or harvest after?

Are there any advantages or disadvantages with either method? Also what is the best method for harvesting?

I just bought some White Labs 300 for a hefe and want to be economical.

Cheers, Mat.

Hi,

Split before would be my preference. It is a bit more work but you don't run the risk of infecting the whole lot. If you are going to harvest you should clean the yeast afterwards - there is a post on here somewhere on cleaning the yeast cake for re-use....

Cheers,

Tim