Starters.

[GFHomebrew]

Good day gents and lady's...

So starters do you pitch it all or chill and decant the super- cant spell the rest you know what its called? (supernatant)

Im gunna brew pilsner ive had my starter spinning 2 days now but i know there aint time to crash it and decant so as ive done countless times before ill pitch it all into the wort.

do you decant on some beers but not on others? decant allways just incase some strange flavour may be carried over from the starter fermenting warm and all?
Whats peoples opinions on starters? Even types of starters theres supposedly vitality starters and of course propogation starters.

there is not a beer ive brewed almost since i started AG that the yeast wasnt first primed and propogated in a starter even when buying dry yeast i slap it in a flask let it do its duity then sample some off into a jar for next brew.

so fire away everyone let me know your starter methods weather you pitch her all in or decant and pitch the yeast cake only? cheers look forward to your responses.

 

[Nosybear]

Particularly for a Pilsner you want to decant. You grow the starter at room temperature, then ferment cold.... If you're growing a 2-liter starter, you're adding two liters of "bad" beer to your beer! I decant most of the liquid, leaving just enough to swirl up the yeast cake. then add.

 

[Hawkbox]

I haven't historically decanted but I have been thinking about it more lately, not so much to prevent any issues as much as Idon't want an extra litre or two of liquid in the carboy.

 

[Group W]

I ran into a time crunch like that last week and just put the gallon jug with 2.5L of yeast starter in the fridg for a couple hours and decanted as much as possible. I know I lost many viable cells, but that batch of lager seems to be doing just fine.

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

I always decant, and always chill to a slurry so that means at least a day ahead of brew day its ready to pour off the wort, otherwise you lose half your yeast

 

[Group W]

Agree Oz. It takes at least 12 hours to fully crash. I will never rush it like that again. I don’t think I lost half, but maybe 10%

 

[GFHomebrew]

interesting ive done it before on pilsner with no negative as far as my biased taste buds can tell anyhow. ive also pitched in high krausen starters into wort as well.

will be interesting to see if the judges at upcomming comp can taste my 2lt starter addition. heck at least there wont be much lag time.

yes i didnt plan tgis brew day as good as i should. my current pils is about to blow and i bumped the keg the other day cleaning line and ya know what its cloudy now so i dont wanna present that as my pils at brew comp... hence my haste in getting another one under way.

 

[oliver]

Particularly for a Pilsner you want to decant. You grow the starter at room temperature, then ferment cold.... If you're growing a 2-liter starter, you're adding two liters of "bad" beer to your beer! I decant most of the liquid, leaving just enough to swirl up the yeast cake. then add.

what if while building a pilsner starter I fermented it at 55ºF? I recently did brewed a SMaSH pils and pitched the entire 1 liter starter in. it was very very pale milky colored compared to my other starters

 

[Nosybear]

what if while building a pilsner starter I fermented it at 55ºF? I recently did brewed a SMaSH pils and pitched the entire 1 liter starter in. it was very very pale milky colored compared to my other starters

You want cell growth and division for a starter so you don't want to grow it at lager temperatures, which slow them down. Nice logic but it's better to grow the starter at room temperature.

 

[GFHomebrew]

brulosophy did a pitched vs decanted exbeeriment as well no significant findings tasters couldnt tell em appart.

http://brulosophy.com/2016/10/10/decanted-vs-full-yeast-starter-exbeeriment-results/

 

[Hawkbox]

Started my starter for the Saison our homebrew club is doing with the local brewery on Sunday. Not sure what I should do with it to mix it up, or if i should just let it buck and see how it comes out.

 

[GFHomebrew]

ok so ive finnished brewing and i wacked my flask in ferm chamber with wort coolinf to 12c ill see if i feel like decanting when i go to pitch later tonight.

yep ill fermenting in a cube with lid loose.

oh and i cant find me air stone dopey me threw it out i think i wrap it in alfoil after boil and i recon i threw it out lol.

 

[GFHomebrew]

Started my starter for the Saison our homebrew club is doing with the local brewery on Sunday. Not sure what I should do with it to mix it up, or if i should just let it buck and see how it comes out.

i always end up adding sone sort of fruit in with my sasions at end of fermentation ive never tried one straight!
i think saison is a pretty forgiving style as long as you dont go too wacky.

 

[I_playdrums]

brulosophy did a pitched vs decanted exbeeriment as well no significant findings tasters couldnt tell em appart.

http://brulosophy.com/2016/10/10/decanted-vs-full-yeast-starter-exbeeriment-results/

I sometimes wonder if Brulosophy has ever discovered something definitive.

 

[GFHomebrew]

I sometimes wonder if Brulosophy has ever discovered something definitive.

yes it seems that way but thats the beauty you dont want significance on some variable. i admit their exbeerments has shaped my brewing.

 

[Hogarthe]

I used to pitch the whole thing. Now I chill overnight and decant. Not sure there was a huge difference but figured getting rid of the warm fermented beer instead of adding it in would help get the best possible flavor. And I almost never use liquid yeast for ales so my starters are just about always lager yeast. any off flavors would probably be easier to pick up in a lager.

 

[Nosybear]

I sometimes wonder if Brulosophy has ever discovered something definitive.

The way they work, I wouldn't call their results definitive but they are instructive. I've worked with them on some of their taste tests where the results were clear, some where they weren't but they are testing the "beer lore" out there. Mostly they've shown there are lots of ways to make good beer.

 

[Hawkbox]

Yeah, it's not hard science, it's more Science! which is honestly more fun. But it is instructive, challenging a lot of the "requirements" of brewing is a good thing for those of us that were intimidated by the seemingly endless list of things you must do exactly right or you'll end up with swill.

 

[jeffpn]

a lot of the "requirements" of brewing is a good thing for those of us that were intimidated by the seemingly endless list of things you must do exactly right or you'll end up with swill.

I disagree with that premise. Making good beer isn’t difficult. That said, this is a hobby that you can fuss as little or as much as you want with the details. I’ve even heard that you don’t really need to sanitize. Ordinary cleaning will do. Not that I don’t sanitize, but I bet it’s not as necessary as people would like you to believe. I bet my Dawn dish soap gets it clean enough.

 

[Hawkbox]

You literally cut the word from the start that has me agreeing with you.