I've read lots of instructions on how to make a yeast starter - unfortunately they all seem to involve the use of a microwave which I don't own. Can anyone give me instructions on how to make one without a microwave?
Also, how far in advance should I make the yeast starter before starting the brew?
Kev
Yeast starter without a microwave
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Bongo
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mysterio
This is more-or-less the method from Protz & Wheeler's Brew Classic European Beers At Home.
Get a clean milk bottle, put it in the sink and fill it to the brim with boiling water from the kettle - this will sanitise it adequately. Meanwhile put half a pint of wort (or half a pint of water and four dessertspoons of sugar) in a small saucepan and bring it to the boil. When the wort or sugar solution has been boiling for a couple of minutes, put your oven gloves on and tip out the water from the milk bottle. Pour the wort or sugar solution into the milk bottle, and cover with kitchen foil. Now put the milk bottle in the saucepan, and the saucepan in the washing-up bowl or straight into the stoppered sink. Very carefully, run some cold tap water into the saucepan - it mustn't hit the milk bottle directly at first because you'll crack it (I did this
). Fill the saucepan up to about the level of the wort in the bottle. The contents of the bottle will cool down to pitching temperature in about twenty minutes if you change the cold water from time to time. Once the bottle is cooler than your hand (try touching it below the level of the wort) you can pour your dried yeast into the wort, put the foil back on and give it a good shake with your hand over the end(!). You can fit a sanitised airlock at this point if you like, otherwise the foil will keep things out for a few hours. I find that ordinary dried yeast like S-04 will froth up beautifully in a couple of hours as long as the room isn't too cold, and I can pitch that into my cooled wort.
I'm sure someone on here will say you mustn't use sugar in a yeast starter but I've done it successfully on a number of brews with no apparent problems. These days I try and save some wort from each brewday, which I put in half-pint plastic boxes in the freezer, and they get boiled-up as above when I want to do a starter.
Get a clean milk bottle, put it in the sink and fill it to the brim with boiling water from the kettle - this will sanitise it adequately. Meanwhile put half a pint of wort (or half a pint of water and four dessertspoons of sugar) in a small saucepan and bring it to the boil. When the wort or sugar solution has been boiling for a couple of minutes, put your oven gloves on and tip out the water from the milk bottle. Pour the wort or sugar solution into the milk bottle, and cover with kitchen foil. Now put the milk bottle in the saucepan, and the saucepan in the washing-up bowl or straight into the stoppered sink. Very carefully, run some cold tap water into the saucepan - it mustn't hit the milk bottle directly at first because you'll crack it (I did this
). Fill the saucepan up to about the level of the wort in the bottle. The contents of the bottle will cool down to pitching temperature in about twenty minutes if you change the cold water from time to time. Once the bottle is cooler than your hand (try touching it below the level of the wort) you can pour your dried yeast into the wort, put the foil back on and give it a good shake with your hand over the end(!). You can fit a sanitised airlock at this point if you like, otherwise the foil will keep things out for a few hours. I find that ordinary dried yeast like S-04 will froth up beautifully in a couple of hours as long as the room isn't too cold, and I can pitch that into my cooled wort.I'm sure someone on here will say you mustn't use sugar in a yeast starter but I've done it successfully on a number of brews with no apparent problems. These days I try and save some wort from each brewday, which I put in half-pint plastic boxes in the freezer, and they get boiled-up as above when I want to do a starter.
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maxashton
It's worth noting if you're planning on getting yeast starters going regularly, you're a lot safer off buying a 2l erlenmeyer (conical) flask from Hop and Grape or somewhere.
Not because of the cool chemistry lab factor, but because they're made of pyrex or simmilar, and won't crack as easily when you bring the wort temperature down.
Safety first, ladies and gents!
Not because of the cool chemistry lab factor, but because they're made of pyrex or simmilar, and won't crack as easily when you bring the wort temperature down.
Safety first, ladies and gents!
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Stringy Bob
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maxashton
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mattmacleod
I'm not sure of the science but I thought doing it with sugar was a bad idea. Part of the point of a starter is to accustom the yeast to it's new environment and a simple sugar solution isn't the same as wort.edit1now wrote:(or half a pint of water and four dessertspoons of sugar) .
FWIW I'd only ever use a malt-based wort for making starters.
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Shoit
I don't really want to - it's my second brew and thought i'd give it a go to try a different approach. I was planning to use S-04 so maybe I don't need to - i'm using a Muntons kit which says to re-hydrate the yeast in the instructions, but not using their yeast.maxashton wrote:S-04 is designed to be pitched right onto 5 gallons of wort. No need to make a starter at all unless you really really want to.
If i do use S-04 and sprinkle it straight onto the wort - do i need to stir it in? Or just aerate the wort prior to pitching the yeast?
Kev
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maxashton
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mysterio
Tipping it straight into wort will get the job done, but it can kill around half of the yeast cells. At 20 billion cells per gram of dried yeast, generally you will be pitching a fair amount but it's always best to rehydrate to get the maximum number of cells. Just rehydrate in sanitised tap water, at around 30C.
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Shoit
So many opinions! What is the best way to simply re-hydrate the yeast rather than making a starter - surely if you just add water it's going to run out of steam very quickly!mysterio wrote:Tipping it straight into wort will get the job done, but it can kill around half of the yeast cells. At 20 billion cells per gram of dried yeast, generally you will be pitching a fair amount but it's always best to rehydrate to get the maximum number of cells. Just rehydrate in sanitised tap water, at around 30C.
Kev