Starter Size ... how big?

[Crouch]

My electric brewery is finally complete and I'm ready to start my first AG brew.

Using beersmith I cobbled together something I thought might be nice that resembles an APA, expected SG of 1.056 (so not a big beer at all) with 42 litres into the fermenter.

Whilst we're trying new things, why not add a yeast starter to the mix using some yeast I washed from my previous APA made with dried malt extract and grains around a month ago. Those yeast jars look okay, but didn't separate as much as I thought they would. Having read around the forum it seems that not much separation can be normal from a malt extract/kit brew so I'm assuming they will be okay to use in my starter.

Now, the question!

Beersmith tells me that I should prepare a 4.83L starter for this beer?! I know this is a 'double batch' but that kind of seems excessive ... given I am using some harvested yeast already, can I get away with a smaller starter circa 2.5-3L?

Also, once my starter is made how long should it be left for to ferment out the small mine-brew? 24 hours?

Cheers

 

[Yob]

Seems excessive.. For a sub 1060 ale, a 2 Lt starter Does my needs..

check out Mr malty and or yeast calc to understand your needs

 

[storeboughtcheeseburgers]

2 litres if your fermenting all that 42 litres in one big fermenter - 1 litre is sufficient brewed out until krausen shows - depending how much yeast you use too - I generally throw a whole smack pack into 1 litre and brew it out for about 12-18 hours and pitch.

I would probably suggest (since it is a bit older yeast and you say it hasn't separated overly well) doing a smaller, stepped up starter - start small 500ml for 24 hours and step up gradually. You will soon be able to guage how active the yeast is in a smaller starter than a larger one. I find fresh, rinsed yeast generally fires straight away, but there is a bit of lag for older stuff that has been fridged for a while. Also depends how much yeast you get from your rinses and what yeast you placed in the original batch (what amount). Generally large yeast pitched beers have more residual yeast to 'rinse'. I've done brews that were probably a little bit underyeasted to start off with and there was not much to 'rinse' out - generally speaking, high yeast count is better than low yeast count for a healthy brew/infection free brew