White Labs Yeast > Are Starters Required?

[sponge]

I just re-hydrate my yeast.





h34r:

 

[carniebrew]

I like to re-hydrate my dry yeast with liquid yeast. Let the bastards fight it out. Last single-cell organism standing.

 

[technobabble66]

I've found the White Labs vials like to spurt everywhere too, particularly when you let them reach room temperature (prior to pitching into wort or starter). I've had some success by opening the vial while still cold before sealing it up again. Then, I relieve the pressure every now and then while it warms to pitching temp.

+1 to this.
First one I used went everywhere (still fermented fine though).
The others I've used I've simply cracked the seal to allow the co2 to escape every 15-30 mins as it came up to room temp. Really a piece of cake.
I think I prefer having my yeasties in a vial where I can see exactly what's going on, so I don't mind having to do a little degassing.

Just out of interest, what is the cutoff for being considered "fresh"? 2 months old?

 

[fattox]

I've been caught out by these - normally I will just pitch, but once I get above their recommended batch/OG size, or a combination of the two, I will do a starter. For reference, I just punched in a BoPils a couple weeks ago on Wyeast Urquell. As my stir plate only just got here, I had to run about a 3 litre starter to get it cranking along.

Basically, I work out where my OG and volumes are, and then what cell count I need. If the package has enough cells, it gets dumped straight in, if not, I use the beersmith calculator. I don't actually know how accurate it is, but it hasn't failed me yet! Now to get that bloody red ale going again, properly pitched!

 

[fattox]

Just out of interest, what is the cutoff for being considered "fresh"? 2 months old?

I use 70% as a minimum for "fresh". Anything more, that's awesome, anything less, get a starter going (personal preference)

Also, for what it's worth, I had nothing better to do today, and graphed the viability vs. age of yeast in months.



e: for some reason, it took 1 as being the first value rather than 0. So, the first value is technically the day it goes into the bag.