Ideal Time To Pitch Starter

[tynian]

Hi Guys,

I have just cultured up a starter from my liquid yeast and was wondering when the ideal time to pitch is?

Also, before i pitch should i shake up the container or just pour it in sans sediment?

Any help would be appreciated - I am at high Krausen with it right now.

Cheers
Rob

 

[mika]

High Krausen is when the yeast is most active and so most ideal. But pretty much as soon as it's bubbling away pretty well and started a Krausen ring seems to work for me.

 

[Sammus]

A lot of the sediment will be yeast thats dropped out of suspension, so you may want to pitch sediment too.

 

[matti]

High krausen is ideal.

Saying that, I have pitched starters that have fermented out succesfully.

either way the lag time will be a few hour as yeast has to familiarize itself with its new environment.

Ideally you should make a starter with a wort similar to the one you are brewing and then pitch at high krausen into an adequetly aerated wort.

 

[Screwtop]

According to Dave Logsdon of Wyeast: Wait till fermentation is finished and the yeast has settled and completed it's cycle, pour off the beer (you dont want that in your brew, may have been fermented warmer than you would do beer and have fusal flavours) and pitch the yeast, after attemperating.

 

[matti]

top tip!
screwtop.
Yeast will behave the best if temps and conditions stay the same.

The reason why fermented out yeast is slighty better is:

It has absorbed all the nutrient for survival in the initial phase and fully proofed for the next onslaught/ workload.

Also good idea to allow to ferment when storing yeasts for along time.

 

[tynian]

Thanks Guys,

I think i will let it ferment out and the pour the beer off, give the slurry a swirl and dump it in.


Thanks for the great tip screwtop.

Rob

 

[mika]

....and the yeast has settled...

Tynian, don't glance over this part. You want the majority of the yeast to settle out otherwise you will pour off a lot of live suspended yeast when you decant.

 

[reVoxAHB]

(from mr.malty):

If youre going to pitch only the yeast from the starter, make sure the starter attenuates fully before decanting the spent wort. The yeast rebuild their glycogen reserve at the end of fermentation and it is this glycogen that they use when preparing to ferment a new batch of beer. Separating the spent wort from the yeast too early also selectively discards the less flocculent, higher attenuating individuals in your yeast population. You may end up with a pitch of yeast that wont attenuate the beer fully. Allow the fermentation to go complete cycle, chill, decant the beer and pitch just the yeast.

reVox

 

[tynian]

In the end I could not wait for it to fully attenuate, so I ended up pitching most of the starter and keeping some in a stubby in the fridge for next time.

Thanks for all the help.

The rate of take off for the yeast was awesome, had airlock activity within a few hours and by early Sunday morning a blow off tube was required.

Rob

 

[Hefty]

(from mr.malty):
Allow the fermentation to go complete cycle, chill, decant the beer and pitch just the yeast.
reVox

Resurrecting this one to ask a further question:
How long should you chill before decanting? a few hours? overnight?
And after decanting, am I right in assuming you should still let the thick yeast slurry that is left atemperate before pitching?

HABAHAGD! :icon_cheers:
Jono.

 

[razz]

You need to wait until you see a clear distinction between the wort and the yeast, if it's stored in the fridge then it should happen in an hour or so. Not sure I understand that last Q Jono?

 

[manticle]

If you don't allow the temps to get too hot (ie starter stays around 18, wait for krausen, pitch) is there any major issue with pouring the whole lot in (it's what I normally do but knowing the science behind things is good)

 

[Pennywise]

I think it would be better to let it warm up a little so the yeasties don't get too much of a shock. I think it's 10 deg difference that causes problematic shock, but I also think it's more of a problem going from warm to cold.

 

[Pennywise]

If you don't allow the temps to get too hot (ie starter stays around 18, wait for krausen, pitch) is there any major issue with pouring the whole lot in (it's what I normally do but knowing the science behind things is good)

That's what I do whenever I don't have the time to let it ferment out, never noticed a difference either way. I think it's more of an issue if you get your starter going a really high temps which will give you unwanted flavours in it. Me, i just get my starters going at 18-20 anyway so no dramas.

 

[johnw]

Just on this topic, i am new to using liquid yeast, am i stupid to think you can pour a wyeast smack pack in the fermentor after the smack pack has expanded? Will this acheive the same result as making a starter, just take a little longer to begin bubbling away?

 

[Hefty]

You need to wait until you see a clear distinction between the wort and the yeast, if it's stored in the fridge then it should happen in an hour or so. Not sure I understand that last Q Jono?

Cheers Razz for the first one. What I meant for the second question is: If I chill the fully fermented starter so that the yeast all settles into a thick deposit on the bottom of the starter vessel and then decant off and dispose of the fermented wort, do I then let the deposit at the bottom reach the same temperature as the full batch I intend to pitch into, or just pitch at the chilled temperature?

HABAHAGD! :icon_cheers:
Jono.

Edit: Spulleng

 

[Pennywise]

Just on this topic, i am new to using liquid yeast, am i stupid to think you can pour a wyeast smack pack in the fermentor after the smack pack has expanded? Will this acheive the same result as making a starter, just take a little longer to begin bubbling away?

You can pitch straight into the wort, I think up to a gravity of 1060. You don't really even need to smack it (although it's better too), the little ball in there is just nutrients to help it along a bit and to also Proof it.

 

[therook]

Cheers Razz for the first one. What I meant for the second question is: If I chill the fully fermented starter so that the yeast all settles into a thick deposit on the bottom of the starter vessel and then decant off and dispose of the fermented wort, do I then let the deposit at the bottom reach the same temperature as the full batch I intend to pitch into, or just pitch at the chilled temperature?

HABAHAGD! :icon_cheers:
Jono.

Edit: Spulleng

I would pitch at the same temp to avoid shock to the yeast...

Thats what i do anyway

Rook

 

[cdbrown]

You can pitch straight into the wort, I think up to a gravity of 1060. You don't really even need to smack it (although it's better too), the little ball in there is just nutrients to help it along a bit and to also Proof it.

And before pitching it's always good to take a small sample to smell and taste - wouldn't want to wreck a batch due to some dodgy yeast like I did. Damn belgian yeast smelt like parmesan cheese but figured it would be ok. Brew fermented nice and strong but there's still the smell lingering in the back ground.