Starter Temps

[Shed]

Hi fellas,

I setup a 1 Ltr yeast starter last night from a WLP006 (Bedford British Ale yeast).
The data sheet for this yeast says ideal temp 18 - 21 deg.

I normally put the starter bottle in a bucket of water with an aquarium heater in it which maintains an even 24- 25 deg. Is this too high or doesn't it matter that much with the starter?

If I leave the heater out, the temp is all over the place from night to day and I don't have a spare fridge with a modified thermostat yet.

Temp control is easier with the larger mass of the main wort and I can generally keep it within range.

Does it matter with the starter? Does the yeast get aclimatised (sp?) to a particular temp?
I can't imagine that any fruity flavours produced in 1Ltr of starter wort would have a huge effect on the overall flavour.

Cheers,
Andy

 

[pint of lager]

You will be surprised, 1 litre of extra flavoured wort will affect the end beer.

Try and keep the starter at your desired fermentation temperature, rather than at 22-24, which is at the hot end. Your method of floating in a temperature controlled bath should work a treat.

You have to decide, are you making beer, or are you making yeast?

Yeast needs for rapid multiplication are different to that of making good beer.

If doing a multistep starter, the decision is easier. For the first steps, you are making yeast, the last step is a beer.

What some brewers do, make a nice big starter, let it brew out, flocculate the yeast by fridging, and pitch the slurry only. This means, you can brew with extract, and not have extract in your final beer. What other brewers do, get the starter going, as soon as it is going, flocculate the yeast by fridging and pitch the slurry.

In theory, you shouldn't subject your yeast to wild temperature variations, in practice it can be done.

I suspect that after many generations (not just the few in a starter,) there would be a population drift to a specific temperature, maybe a zymurgist else could comment.