Starting Wyeast

[Bobby]

dilute apple juice to 1040 and use that perhaps?

 

[jgriffin]

But i don't think apple juice has all the nutrients in it that yeast need to multiply healthily.

I'm actually going to use it for Ginger beer as well.

 

[Darren]

But i don't think apple juice has all the nutrients in it that yeast need to multiply healthily.

I'm actually going to use it for Ginger beer as well.

Howdy,
Something else to consider apple juice also contains preservatives. They yeast will not like preservatives.
Darren

 

[Slight]

This may sound like a stupid question (I've had a few lately) but..

What happens when you over dilute the starter?

I added a 125ml packet to one litre of light DME wort for 24 hours then diluted it into 3 litres of wort. In the past (with coopers yeast) I've found it difficult to know when the yeast has grown enough to pitch/dilute (I never see any evidence of high kraussen. No foam)

Now I have three 1 litre bottles of wort diluted starter that haven't done anything for the last few hours.

 

[jgriffin]

Well by diluting the wort, you end up with 1/3 of the potential yeast.

You should make your starters with an OG of around 1.040 - which is about 110g of DME per litre of water.
If you do that, you should definately end up with enough yeast.

 

[Slight]

I followed the ratios explained at the start of the thread pretty closely.

But, the amount of yeast compared to the amount of DME in the bottles is different. Is it possible that there is too much DME compared to yeast?

I'm thinking that a large amount of alcohol will be created that could kill off the small amount yeast.

 

[Backlane Brewery]

Hmm, wish I'd read this thread earlier.
Slight gave me a bottle of Irish ale yeast & one of Belgian wit a couple of weeks back.
In line with my resolution to try new things, decided the "Grey Cat" wheat beer should be made with the wit. Took it out of the fridge yesterday morning, let it come to room temp & added a bit of sugar. Gave it a shake then left it alone for a couple of hours. When I got to the brewery I put the whole bottle in a jug with a litre of warm water & about 50g of light DME, gave it a good whisk & then let it sit for a about half an hour while I sorted out the 25l demijohn, which was a bugger to clean.
Made up the MSB Summer Wheat to 10.5l, then pitched the starter in and gave the whole thing a good shake, though think the wort was pretty well aerated already. Starter didn't look like it was up to much in the jug, and when I left an hour or so later there was hardly any head/krausen to be seen.
Will check it again ASAP, but am worried I may have underfed the yeast beforehand. The MSB kit comes with 10g of yeast, obviously there is a lot of fermenting to be done. I had thought making up a litre of good starter would be OK, but maybe not. In hindsight I should have started a day earlier & added much more DME.
Also concerned about the huge headspace in the demijohn- maybe I need a 15l as well as 10 & 25.
And this is BEFORE I got the nagging feeling I used the ale yeast, not the wit anyway!

 

[johnno]

Hi BLB,
You should try and start the yeast up and pitch it when it is at high krausen.
Here is a 1056 that i have had in the fridge since April.
I started this last Monday morning.
This is what it looked like last night.

 

[johnno]

And here is a pic of it right now.
I will be pitching this in the next few hours. I am mashing right now,making a LCPA clone.

cheers

 

[Backlane Brewery]

Thanks Johnno.
The colour of my starter was similar, had a lot less foam (like, none) just a scattering of bubbles.
Before I jugged it I was sure it was "awake" as I didn't have an airlock on it and so had to burp the bottle a couple of times. Guess that's a good sign.

 

[kungy]

The MSB kit comes with 10g of yeast, obviously there is a lot of fermenting to be done. I had thought making up a litre of good starter would be OK, but maybe not. In hindsight I should have started a day earlier & added much more DME.

Not a big deal, its not that the MSB cans have a lot of fermenting to be done, just that MS have large sachets of yeast.

Just a point of differentiation for MS. Some people have pointed out that it may be in fact too much yeast,and in warm temperatures lead to a unsuitable and large jump in fermenting temp for newbies.

Live and Learn.

Cheers

Will

 

[Backlane Brewery]

Checked the demijohn last night- you want foam? you want RICH CREAMY FOAM ABOUT AN INCH THICK??
Then look at this (crappy Nokia-cam) photo.
Phew!

 

[Slight]

Good to see it's going strong. I thought it may have cooked when I took it for the drive in to the city.


Batz, where can I get some of those plastic bottles for storing yeast? At the moment I'm using soft drink bottles which are quite poor.

 

[Batz]

I don't know where you could buy them Slight , a friend gets them for me

Batz

 

[Weizguy]

I don't wanna B a Weizguy, but can your friend tell us how to obtain them?
There could be a lot of interest.
I am a farmer 2!
Sethule

 

[Backlane Brewery]

No, Slight, not cooked AT ALL. Racked this big fat brew into secondary today..mmm, and it was fine coming thru the siphon, all green & fiesty.
Also racked 10l of all-juice cider. And started a Morgans kit. New names for new brews:
MSB Sumer Wheat & wit yeast- "Grey Cat"
All juice- "Special Mince" (do not confuse with "Supreme Gravy". Or "Donkey Poison")
Morgan's- "Maurice"

 

[cubbie]

OK
After this, and before the activity has stopped completely , prepare again with the sterilizer and have bottles ready , you can use subbies here

Bottle this living yeast culture

Each of these bottles you store in a cold fridge , when ready to pitch, return them to room temperture , again feed with cooled DME , once working add to your brew as nomally you would add yeast

Oh.. allow a couple of days to get the yeast off before doing a brew , this will ensure it's well alive and ready

I get several bottles , works out at around $2 per brew , then you can use yeast cakes , I don't do this but I am sure someone will explane how.

I hope this is of some help to brewers new to liquid yeasts

Cheers batz

When you step it up and bottle the culture, do you just pour off the suspended yeast or rouse the culture first getting some of the yeast that has settled?

When you feed your yeast before pitching do you transfer it back to a bigger bottle (eg 2L) and how much DME/water do you use to feed. Do you end up with a 1.5L starter?

And how does the yeast culture effect the gravity and flavour of the beer, do you account for volume of liquid in your mesurements?

Cheers,

cubbie

 

[sluggerdog]

In the original insturctions that Batz has posted how big should each starter bottle be? i.e. how much liquid do you put in each to pitch?

Cheers

 

[JasonY]

If you mean the ones you store in the fridge then as small as you like. I use 375ml stubbies which I half fill. These are then used to step up for the next brew to 1 - 2L. You could pitch them direct but you would be waiting a while for them to take off and risk infections getting in.

If I could get a good supply of 100 - 200ml bottles I would be using them to save space.

 

[sluggerdog]

Thanks Jason. Out of the 2-3 litres you orignally make you can get a hell of a lot of starters correct? (20-30 if you were really keen?)


So with each bottle you step up and then pitch about 1-2 litres into the fermenter?


ALSO Could I make my starters now even though I won't be brewing for about another week (when the fridge is empty again).
This wouldn't be a problem right? I would be just making my starters and using them later hey?