Reusing yeast - the starter method

[QK]

I usually boil my ldm plus water in a 7 lt stock pot to make a starter, I find it cools down quicker in iced water than the flask, I too wanted a heated stir plate from digital home brew but never available !! So I just got one like Titan has, does the job, just don't forget to turn heat off if you are using it, I usually pitch into a starter around 25 so it's warm for a quite a few hours , usually get krausen in a few hours, Quincy 

[Otto Von Blotto]

That's why I just cap the flask in foil and let it cool by itself. Can't be arsed with cold water baths and boiling in a separate vessel, but I guess it's easy being home during the day for a few hours to do it then. In summer  though I boil them at night and let them cool overnight. They don't cool quickly enough during the day at that time of year. At this time of year they cool too quickly overnight and could be vulnerable to infection.

It sounds to me like those stir plates are designed for lab work where solutions are often boiled or heated to high temps. I still think it's stupid selling them as yeast growth tools when they have no control mechanism to stop it heating the starter too much. If you're gonna have heating in a stir plate used for yeast, it needs to be controlled or else it's useless and you have to faff around more making sure it doesn't get too hot. It's a shame those digital homebrew ones are taking so long to become available.

Cheers

Kelsey

[Otto Von Blotto]

A rarity will be occurring in the Blotto Brewery today and over the next few days. I'm retiring my 1272 strain after its next batch, so today's starter will only be 1.3L in size and there will be no harvesting for later re-use. It has been in use in the brewery since late 2016 so it's had a good run. I am thinking of going back to US-05/1056* for APAs; while I liked 1272 I did notice a bit of tartness from it in the beers which I don't really like that much. It takes away from the hops and underlying malt a bit too much for me. Maybe it's just getting to the point of being re-used too many times although apparently it is a characteristic of that yeast. That may be the issue more than sulphate levels in the water being too high as well. I was always happy with the 05 brews though, this flavor didn't present in those. Another one I want to try is the 1217 West Coast IPA yeast, but it's not available currently. 1332 Northwest Ale sounds alright but perhaps a bit malty for my tastes.

I'll pick up a smack pack of 1056 some time before the next pale ale is due for fermentation. Meanwhile, the 1469 is still going well and has been around here since Jan/Feb 2016. It may be time to replace it soon but I'll see how the beers turn out in the coming batches fermented with it first. So far they've been as good as always.

*I realise this is the same strain, but I have found the liquid yeasts seem to be able to handle a lot more re-uses before they start throwing funny flavors than the dry yeasts can. Last time I used 05 it lasted about 8 generations before it started chucking off flavors, whereas I've had at least two liquid strains reach nearly double that amount so far.

Cheers

Kelsey

[Wobbly74]

If you don't mind about being unheated, making your own stir plate is puss easy. Just use something like a plastic container, an old pc fan, some glue, a couple of magnets and an old 12v phone charger and you're good to go. I made one effectively for free as I had the bits and an old potentiometer lying around the shed. 

[Otto Von Blotto]

I'm not even sure if the heating function is working properly in mine at the moment. I fixed the probe lead being loose in its socket so I can set the temperature, but the heating light never comes on even when it is set to 30 degrees. The starter isn't anywhere near that temp so it should kick it in. A piece of ribbon looking stuff came out of a socket when I was trying to put the thing back together, maybe that messed it up. 

I'll stick a cold beer on it when I get home and see if that works, if not then I'll get Dad to look at it. 

[Titan]

The result. Nice and clear with very noticable yeast cake at the bottom. Plan to harvest 500ml for the next starter decant the beer and pitch to my next brew.

[Otto Von Blotto]

Have you already crash chilled it? It just looks like condensation on the flask. If so then you've got the process a little arse about. The harvest takes place before the starter is chilled. Stir it all up again, take your 500mL then chill it to drop out the yeast.

[Titan]

I was in Sydney when the starter finished, so got my son to pop it in the fridge. Did exactly what you said right after i took that photo above. Now sitting at room temperature as i will use it in todays brew.

[Otto Von Blotto]

Should be left cold until it's pitched mate. You may be doing more harm than good leaving it sitting at room temperature for a while before pitching. 

[Titan]

Ok mate now in the fridge again.

[Titan]

I thought it was wise to bring the starter up to closer to pitching temperature.

[Otto Von Blotto]

Have a read of the cold pitching yeast thread, the first post explains the reason why. 

[The Captain!!]

I Perth today for specialist appointment so stopped at the brew store for a couple of things, some fresh WLP001 and a Saison 2 yeast along with a mag stirrer. 

Ive got everything I need now to do this method now. Very excited 

captain

[Titan]

It's a great step to take. Have two starters in the fridge 1 lager , 1 ale and two 500ml harvests. Will uses my ale starter tonight in a Brown Porter. Now the boast, not only do i make my own beer, i make the yeast as well.

[joolbag]

Just got my stir plate and 3L erlenmeyer flask so my first liquid yeast starter is spinning away. What's the timing on all this? I have read people spin it for 24hrs then turn the plate off.

 

Then What? Harvest my 600mL straight away? Is the starter finished and the final yeast count achieved at 24hrs or do I need to leave it on the bench a bit longer?

 

Thanks in advance yeast farmers.

 

Cheers, Jools

 

PS WLP029 Kölsch yeast didn't seem to create much of a krausen, not concerned just an observation.

[Otto Von Blotto]

What I do is turn off the stir plate after 24 hours then let the starter sit for another couple of days before stirring it all up again to do the harvest. You can probably harvest anytime, I just do it that way so it's not fermenting in the jar as well.

[The Captain!!]

So really to keep stirring during the growth phase to keep in suspension allowing better growth and healthier cells then let it ferment out, then stir up to harvest. 

Captain

[joolbag]

Thanks chaps. Makes total sense now! I don't want any yeast bombs slowly fermenting away in my fridge!

[The Captain!!]

Put on the starter yesterday of Wyeast 1056 so tonight I’ll turn off the stirrer and let it ferment out. And harvest on Monday to pitch 

[Otto Von Blotto]

If you turn it off tonight harvest it on Saturday or Sunday then stick it in the fridge til pitching time - unless you're pitching the whole starter volume? You'll have to stir it all up again to harvest some.

[The Captain!!]

Yeah I’ll harvest Sunday then store in fridge till Monday arv when I pitch. 

 

[Beer Baron]

A bit of a thread hijack but here I go. 

I plan to brew on Tuesday and hopefully this will be my plan if it sounds good........

Friday - Make a 2L starter (normal process etc) and add Wyeast Ale 1056 and put on stir plate in temperature controlled conditions until Sunday. 

Sunday - When activity is complete I’ll cold crash until Tuesday morning. 

Tuesday - At the start of brew day I’ll decant and swirl and slowly let the yeast rise in temperature until pitching time. 

How does this sound??

[Otto Von Blotto]

Sounds good, but turn the stir plate off after 24 hours, it doesn't need to run the whole time. Just re stir it on Sunday to harvest, it will drop out again in the fridge. 

[Beer Baron]

32 minutes ago, Otto Von Blotto said:

Sounds good, but turn the stir plate off after 24 hours, it doesn't need to run the whole time. Just re stir it on Sunday to harvest, it will drop out again in the fridge. 

After the 24 hours do I just let it sit at room temperature or do I cold crash straight away. 

Also how long does it take for the yeast drop when cold crashing and what temperature to cold crash. 

Thanks

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

3 hours ago, Beer Baron said:

Tuesday - At the start of brew day I’ll decant and swirl and slowly let the yeast rise in temperature until pitching time. 

How does this sound??

There are a couple of schools of thought in regard to starter pitch temps. I'm in the camp of pitch straight out of the fridge. I.e 2 or 3c. Faster starts and no I'll effects from my experience compared to waiting and letting it rise.