# Yeast Starter Temperature



## TBird (28/2/11)

Hi All

What temperatures do people usually ferment their starters at (specifically lager)?

According to White Labs FAQ, it's room temperature. Up here on the Sunny Coast it's around 30 degrees during daytimes. Is this safe without affecting the performance of the yeast?

Thanks and cheers


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## dougsbrew (28/2/11)

room temperature is a bit vague. the water in our taps here is around 30c aswell. 
to the best of my knowledge you should have your starter at pitching temp 
which is around 23c for most lagers. 
ed - i'm not sure if i got your question right. are you after fermentation temp?


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## razz (28/2/11)

30 would be the absolute max for an ale starter Tbird, preferably 22-25 degrees. I'm not sure of what Whitelabs recommend as I use Wyeast. For a lager yeast starter I would keep the temp much lower than 30. Perhaps you can keep the starter in a water bath with the odd ice block thrown n?


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## argon (28/2/11)

TBird said:


> Hi All
> 
> What temperatures do people usually ferment their starters at (specifically lager)?
> 
> ...




I like to keep my starters within the range of fermentation for the yeast strain. Then there's less to worry about.

However, i can imagine trying to get a starter going at 9C for a lager might be slow going. So i reckon it'd be fine to bump it up to about 18C. Reasoning being that that's about the temp of a D-rest and won't stress the yeast.


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## Pennywise (28/2/11)

TBird said:


> Hi All
> 
> What temperatures do people usually ferment their starters at (specifically lager)?
> 
> ...



Growing yeast at room temp is the best way IMO, they like it up in the high 20s to breed. Bad thing is, we don't like the esters they put out at these temps. IMO if you're going build the yeast up at the recomended temp, the only pitch the slurry. If you want to pitch the whole starter, then keep thw temp in check.

My $2


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## mckenry (28/2/11)

Starters dont need to be built at pitching temps. We are only growing yeast numbers at this stage. So room temp is the go. Having said room temp - I would be a bit worries at 30C. Low 20s is fine for lagers & ales. Also, you dont want a slow fermenting starter which you would have if you do a lager at 10C

After the starter has finished then chill to fermenting temp. Some say you should leave it at room temp for up to 24hrs after finishing, before chilling. I generally do this, but have at times chilled the next morning.

When ready to pitch : smell the starter, pour off most of the liquid, taste the liquid. If taste is fine swirl the remaining liquid to suspend the yeast and pitch. Oxygenate the wort.

Notes: Starter wont taste good - but off starters are foul, so you'll know. You may already know if the smell is off - this one is harder, coz I reckon they all smell bad, so rely on taste only.

I definitely pitch yeast at fermentation temp, as well as having the wort at the same temp too. I dont like the idea of pitching a lager yeast at 20C then chilling to 10C. Off flavours can be produced and you'll need a D-rest for sure.

mckenry


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## Crusty (28/2/11)

Pennywise said:


> Growing yeast at room temp is the best way IMO, they like it up in the high 20s to breed. Bad thing is, we don't like the esters they put out at these temps. IMO if you're going build the yeast up at the recomended temp, the only pitch the slurry. If you want to pitch the whole starter, then keep thw temp in check.
> 
> My $2



+1.
Go the good old ambient.


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## QldKev (28/2/11)

Pitcch a little warm and throw it in your fermenting environment. Same temp, gets the yeast used to it. 

QldKev


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## Wolfy (28/2/11)

TBird said:


> According to White Labs FAQ, it's room temperature. Up here on the Sunny Coast it's around 30 degrees during daytimes. Is this safe without affecting the performance of the yeast?


Keeping a lager starter that warm does pose the risk of impacting on its performance.

I think you'll find that 'room temperature' is usually thought of as something in the low-to-mid 20's (deg C).
While that is totally fine for Ale yeast starters, most 'experts' suggest keeping lager starters closer to the temperature they will ferment at, no more than about 5-10deg above, else there is a risk of the yeast mutating, growing and adapting to the warmer starter temperatures.


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## stux (28/2/11)

Room Temperature doesn't mean the ambient temperature in your room 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_temperature

"Room temperature implies a temperature inside a temperature-controlled building. Ambient temperature simply means "the temperature of the surroundings" and will be the same as room temperature indoors. In many languages, such as Spanish, there is an expression for ambient temperature, but no distinct translation for room temperature"

So, between 20-25C

"
For scientific calculations, room temperature is usually taken to be either 20 or 25 degrees Celsius (293 or 298 kelvin (K), 68 or 77 degrees Fahrenheit).
"

I would use 23C +- 3C, which is what many yeasts want as their rehydrating/pitching temperatures


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## TBird (1/3/11)

Thanks all for your imput into this one.

The general consensus seems to be that a room temperature of 30 degrees is getting a bit too warm for a yeast starter and somewhere between 20 - 25 degrees is better.

Cheers


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