Fast Pitch Starter Wort

[curtbrown]

Has anyone used Fast Pitch?? I'm diving into the world of starters and BIAB with my next batch. I am not going to use a stir plate. I plan to give it a good swirling every chance I get. My question is how many days before brew day should I make my starter? 2? 3? I was thinking about making it 2 days before, and the refrigerating after 24 hours. Any good advice?

 

[jmcnamara]

I usually make a starter that I'll be using directly about 18 hours or so before I plan to pitch it. So sometime the night before.

If you're going to chill it and decant the liquid, then 2 days should be fine. Let it multiply then put it in the fridge the night before brewing. Decant most of the liquid, trying not the disturb the Ayer of yeast at the bottom. Leave about a quarter inch or so of liquid to slosh around the yeast cake, and dump away.

Not familiar with fast pitch, but I assume that gives you the right gravity and starter volume?

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

Ive herd of people using it but needing 2 cans for a good starter, I think a teaspoon of yeast nutrient is always a good practice using Fast Pitch or not, it does seem to be quicker, just like a convenience store you pay more for getting it now

 

[MrBIP]

Love the fast pitch. Been keeping some on hand since it came out. 1.040 starter, usually 1 can is sufficient (1 can of starter with 1 can of bottled water = 1L starter). It already has yeast nutrient in it. Very handy if you're not hip on boiling DME and waiting for it to cool, like mid-week after work, after golf, after dinner. Takes 5 minutes to make a starter. Done.

As for timing, myself, I like to make a starter Tuesday or Wednesday for a Sunday brew, so it can be in the fridge Thursday or Friday for plenty of settle time for a good decant on brew day. But I'm pretty sure it wouldn't matter if you made a starter 12-18 hours ahead and just dump the whole thing in (minus the stir bar of course).

 

[jmcnamara]

That stuff sounds interesting. I canned a bunch of wort for starters once. I think 6 lbs of 2row got me 3 gallons, split into quart mason jars. Pressure cook, and you've got wort on the go. No nutrients though, but pretty cheap since it's just grain

I'm admittedly a little lazy, so a 1 liter starter I just pour right in too. If you do anything bigger, you may want to decant. That'd be a lot of extra liquid in there and could mess around with your numbers and such

 

[curtbrown]

Thanks guys. Because of my work schedule, I brew every other month. Fast Pitch just seems like it would save a lot of time, but also help me to make better beer. I plan to do a 1L starter. Since I'm not using a stir plate, 2 days before and no decanting?? I'm thinking 2 days gives it enough time to do what it needs to.

 

[jmcnamara]

I don't recall where I read it, but I think the yeast are where you want them about 18-24 hours after pitching for a starter. they're active and reproducing, but not doing something else or doing it a certain way.

at any rate, i also don't think it'll make that much of a difference compared to what you're doing

 

[curtbrown]

Fast Pitch is so easy. I'm sure there is a youtube video. 25 hours is probably plenty. It's the lack of stir plate that has me thinking that an extra day could help. That being said, the yeast starter calculator says I'll have plenty of yeast cells for my batch.

 

[jmcnamara]

also, i wouldn't worry about decanting 1L starter for a 5 gallon batch of beer. That's a literal drop in the bucket compared to the total volume of wort. The one exception I might make is if the starter is unusually dark and you're making a pilsner or something like that, but even then it should be diluted enough not to matter

 

[curtbrown]

Sounds good.

 

[jmcnamara]

and i have no idea how you make it till the next brew day. I go crazy if it's been 3 weeks or so

 

[curtbrown]

I work on an offshore drilling rig. I'm here right now. I work 21 on and 21 off, so I brew the week before I leave and bottle when I get home. No secondary. I sit here at my computer all day reading Brulosophy and watching youtube videos about brewing. I tend to do a lot of shopping on Amazon and Northern Brewer. My wife is going to kill me eventually. This week alone I've purchased a 15 gallon SS Brewtech Kettle, a BIAB starter kit, Fast Pitch starter wort, and a flask. I have a Nut Brown with 1 lb of roasted pecans and a Hoe Garden clone that will be ready to bottle when I get home next week. I am hooked.

 

[jmcnamara]

Haha, fair enough.

I really enjoyed things more when I moved to BIAB too

 

[jeffpn]

I work on an offshore drilling rig.

So you're the guy who wanted to by my camper and pay me through PayPal and send someone to collect it! :lol:

 

[curtbrown]

:lol:

I work on an offshore drilling rig.

So you're the guy who wanted to by my camper and pay me through PayPal and send someone to collect it! :lol:

:lol:
Not me Oilfield isn't doing so well at the moment... of course a camper would be a good alternative for when I can't afford my house note.

 

[lilyalvin]

I have 8 gallons of beer in a batch, so it comes up nicely in a short time.

 

[Mark D Pirate]

Takes me less than 5 minutes work to get my starter wort made !
only heard about this stuff for first time today looking at northern brewer site , you Yanks get it easy ! here in OZ equipment is dearer , ingredients are similar price but at least our women are better looking :lol:

 

[jeffpn]

here in OZ ... our women are better looking

Sure, if you have thing for extremely short women! :lol:

 

[Mark D Pirate]

here in OZ ... our women are better looking

Sure, if you have thing for extremely short women! :lol:

You must be thinking of Koalas ...my last 3 Gfs have been close to 6' and actually just checked and our average is higher than yours
Travelled the US years back and will come back unless you elect that fat fool as Potus

 

[Nosybear]

here in OZ ... our women are better looking

Sure, if you have thing for extremely short women! :lol:

You must be thinking of Koalas ...my last 3 Gfs have been close to 6' and actually just checked and our average is higher than yours
Travelled the US years back and will come back unless you elect that fat fool as Potus

Not to divert into politics.... But it seems unlikely that the fat fool will be elected. Of course they said that about Brexit.... Now back to beer before someone moderates the moderator, starters really are absurdly easy to make: Sanitize a container to ferment it in, make up a 1.03-1.04 wort - DME works best. Boil 10 minutes, cool to the '70s, pitch the yeast, put it on a stir plate with sanitized stir bar or just let it sit on a countertop and shake it every chance you get. If I'm making a really small beer <1.05, I don't bother and if there's an equivalent dried yeast, ditto - with rehydration of course!