Yeast Starters Made With Kit Malt?

[rendo]

Hello AHB'ers!

Recently I have been making practice yeast starters (never done it before, saved some 514 yeast from a recent brew) and its easy peasy. Getting ready for a killer lager (pitching @ 11deg) and I want to get my yeast starting skills spot on. However I am starting to churn thru my dry malt pretty quickly. Recently a friend gave me a coopers draught kit that is 12months+ out of date. I am NOT going to brew it, chucking it out is the next step, but then I got to thinking.....

Can I use the malt from the coopers kit to make yeast starters? This "should be" a match made in heaven, i.e the yeast gets 'acclimatised' to the right malt etc. However its 12months+ outta date? Its just for making starters...so should be fine?? thoughts?

How many grams of LME for a 1L starter? I use 100g of LDME, so I am thinking 100G of LME is the go?

Also,
Where should I store the malt (i.e. old coopers kit)?
1. In the coopers tin, in the fridge? Covered in glad wrap? (i always thought storing things in tins in the fridge was bad, no idea why)
2. Open the tin, pour it all into a large glass jar (sanitised etc), with a lid (eg ex-gerkin jar, their huge, 1-2L)
3. How about seperating into 100g lots and freezing them?? 100g should be right for a 1L starter???
4. How about ice cube trays? Make malt ice cubes, then store them in an airtight container?? (anyone done this?)

I am thinking options 2 & 4 are looking likely, happy to freeze it, if its better, but if the fridge is fine then option 2 is likely. I wonder how long it would keep in the fridge like that, just to be used for starters only.

Any feedback or advice is greatly appreciated...thanks guys!

EDIT: I did try to find the answer before asking these questions, but I couldnt really get the bang-on answer.

Rendo

 

[razz]

Been doing this for years Rendo. I use 100 gms per lt of water to make a starter. The left over tin stays in the pantry with the plastic lid on. KISS priciple mate, forget about options 2, 3 and 4, no need.

 

[rendo]

Sh!t! ....you leave the tin in the pantry. It must be cold in hastings? Any ants your way? It'd get decimated by ants at my house. I can hear them banging on the back door trying to get in, you might even be getting the funnel webs excited! Easy boy! they can smell your suggestion of me leaving malt in the pantry

Well, thats good news about what I was thinking re:LME for starters. So i wont chuck the expired coopers tin. I knew I kept it for something good. Also, at the supermarket you occasionally see marked down kits ($1-$5), these would be perfect for starter malt (cheapy option)

I might still contemplate option 2, eg fridge in a glass jar. See what others say too.....

one FW that I caught and squashed the back of.....YUMMY!! He was going right for my beer (well maybe...)

Been doing this for years Rendo. I use 100 gms per lt of water to make a starter. The left over tin stays in the pantry with the plastic lid on. KISS priciple mate, forget about options 2, 3 and 4, no need.

 

[razz]

My apologies to the Cooper family but I just grab what ever is the cheapest. :lol:

 

[rendo]

Hey Razz,

Do you boil your 100g LME (cheapy kit malt) and 1L of water for 15mins to kill the nasties? Then cool and pitch yeast? Or do you just use cooled boiled water, mix up the LME and chuck the yeast in?

Rendo

My apologies to the Cooper family but I just grab what ever is the cheapest. :lol:

 

[manticle]

Main thing you need to contend with is that the kit will have some kind of hop profile. Beyond that you could probably treat it as the malt for a starter. I would boil it just to be sure, especially if it's an already open tin.

More for peace of mind considering how easy it is.

Nice photo BTW.

 

[rendo]

Yes...I was thinking about the hops, what do you mean contend? When I am ready to pitch, I plan to decant most of the 'starter beer" off and just pitch the slurry, even though I know I will be wasting some yeast in suspension. Would the hops get in the way of yeast reproduction?

Maybe the boiling might also drive off some of the isohops?? hmm maybe not? dunno.

Thanks for noticing the photo, it kinda jumps out at you Scared the crap outta me when I first saw it. The best funnel web is a dead one. I remember pulling his fangs forward for the photo, with a pencil...

Cheers Manticle, boiling it is then!

Rendo

Main thing you need to contend with is that the kit will have some kind of hop profile. Beyond that you could probably treat it as the malt for a starter. I would boil it just to be sure, especially if it's an already open tin.

More for peace of mind considering how easy it is.

Nice photo BTW.

 

[manticle]

Bittering hops won't be driven off by boiling. Most everyday kits aren't massively hopped so probably not a big issue. Hops won't interfere with yeast doing its growing thing.

Contend with = deal with, face, associate yourself with, be around, be in the running................

I could have been a contender. I could have been somebody.

Any dead spiders - feel free to post them to me (serious): http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...=pencil+drawing

 

[Bribie G]

As a slight extension to your method, I ended up with just one vial left of Proculture Wood Ale liquid yeast (AKA 1469) with no certainty of it coming back on the market. At that time a buddy gave me a Coopers tin of Euro Lager - he's gone out of brewing. So I thought haha and did a full brew with the kit, a kilo of LDME, proculture yeast and bottled off a whole batch as a yeast bank. It tastes like beer, sort of, and I'll be culturing up the 1469 .... oops, Wood Ale ........ in the same way as using a bottle of Coopers.

 

[bcp]

one FW that I caught and squashed the back of.....YUMMY!! He was going right for my beer (well maybe...)
View attachment 36384

I ate one about that size in Cambodia - well just a leg. Work colleague talked me into it and a beer to wash it down. (Up to then i thought a beer spider was ice-cream in the glass). He had the whole thing. It unfortunately connected the part in my brain with spider associations, with the section of brain that deals with taste... and this was not an altogether happy connection... even though it tasted just like pork crackling (which i love) my brain was also sounding some kind of alarm and the taste seemed to stay for days and days... which is good to hear, Razz that you can keep the tin of malt extract for ages. (and you thought this was an off-topic post!) Mmm... crunchy.

 

[razz]

Hey Razz,

Do you boil your 100g LME (cheapy kit malt) and 1L of water for 15mins to kill the nasties? Then cool and pitch yeast? Or do you just use cooled boiled water, mix up the LME and chuck the yeast in?

Rendo

Yep, boil the whole lot in an erlenmeyer flask for 10 mins, chill in a sink of water and pitch the yeast. Easy peasy!
I keep a square of aly foil over the top during the boil and keep it there while the flask is on the stir plate then firm it down around the flask top when it goes into the fridge.

 

[rendo]

Thanks Guys.....manticle (as always), BribieG (also as always), razz, bcp

As always, fantastic info.

I'll keep it simple. Decided to store it in ex-honey jars. I guess the contents arent that far different. I have soaked them overnight in sod perc, they are SUPER clean now....and the lids. Will fill em up tomorrow night and prob do a practice 1L starter with an old coopers yeast I have.....if I get excited (or have the time) I might take pics and detail my method, so other adventurous brewers can learn.....(from my mistakes)

rendo

Yep, boil the whole lot in an erlenmeyer flask for 10 mins, chill in a sink of water and pitch the yeast. Easy peasy!
I keep a square of aly foil over the top during the boil and keep it there while the flask is on the stir plate then firm it down around the flask top when it goes into the fridge.