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Post by zymot on Mar 30, 2022 20:02:54 GMT -6
I bought a couple 1 gallon HDPE plastic jerry can style bottles. I think I paid $15 for the pair on amazon. I am a klutz, plastic in my hands is not a bad idea.
When I was a stir plate guy, I used 1 liter erlenmeyer flasks. I made two stir plates and would do two liter starters. When I priced the flasks, it was, I need two, better get three for when I eventually break one. When I priced 3, a case of six with free shipping almost the same.
That was over 16 years ago. I still have my original 6 flasks. Never broke one.
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Post by gusso on Apr 8, 2022 17:24:10 GMT -6
My first attempt! Just used an iced tea jug. Brewing a Tripel tomorrow.
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Post by brewbama on Apr 8, 2022 18:34:00 GMT -6
… That was over 16 years ago. I still have my original 6 flasks. Never broke one. That’s the way I am. If I bought one I’d have broken it first time out and the replacement would be on back order. Buy six and have all six for two decades. |
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joed
New Member
We are the people our parents warned us about!
Posts: 39
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Post by joed on Apr 13, 2022 8:20:52 GMT -6
Have to say I am a new convert to SNS myself. Brewed a Trappist Single a week ago, but did not realize that Wyeast 1214 was a slow starter and pitched before high krausen after 15 hours. I had assumed I just missed the krausen. Had no actively for 24 hours, but by day 3 was down to 1.007. This past week it was a Irish Stout, pitched Friday morning at high krausen. I went away for weekend but by time I returned Sunday morning, the beer was pretty much done fermenting.
Both of these batches were just 3 gallon batches, so what I did was use 1 can of Propper and a bottle of water to make 1 liter starters in 4 liter flask and shook the heck out of them. Then before pitching, I poured some off into 8 ounce mason jars to save for my yeast bank.
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Post by gusso on Apr 13, 2022 8:47:34 GMT -6
The exact thing happened to me with my 1214 starter.
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Post by Ken on Apr 27, 2022 10:13:21 GMT -6
Gang: I am making a starter today and it will be SNS. I have my 1-gallon glass jug ready. I just went back and read this thread and I see that Denny mentioned that if I make the starter today, I pitch the yeast tomorrow, correct? Any wiggle room? I thought it was "shake the bejesus out of it until it's all foam and then pitch". I plan to brew Friday evening so I want to make sure I give it enough time and I guess I didn't know the lag time between "shake" and "pitch". Also... any upside to shooting some pure O2 in there? Cheers and thanks.
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Post by denny on Apr 27, 2022 12:41:29 GMT -6
Gang: I am making a starter today and it will be SNS. I have my 1-gallon glass jug ready. I just went back and read this thread and I see that Denny mentioned that if I make the starter today, I pitch the yeast tomorrow, correct? Any wiggle room? I thought it was "shake the bejesus out of it until it's all foam and then pitch". I plan to brew Friday evening so I want to make sure I give it enough time and I guess I didn't know the lag time between "shake" and "pitch". Also... any upside to shooting some pure O2 in there? Cheers and thanks. You want to pitch as close to high krauesen as possible. I've let it go a couple days, but ideally 24 hours is what you want. You can add O2, but if you get the container full of foam it won't make any difference. |
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Post by Ken on Apr 27, 2022 12:53:10 GMT -6
Gang: I am making a starter today and it will be SNS. I have my 1-gallon glass jug ready. I just went back and read this thread and I see that Denny mentioned that if I make the starter today, I pitch the yeast tomorrow, correct? Any wiggle room? I thought it was "shake the bejesus out of it until it's all foam and then pitch". I plan to brew Friday evening so I want to make sure I give it enough time and I guess I didn't know the lag time between "shake" and "pitch". Also... any upside to shooting some pure O2 in there? Cheers and thanks. You want to pitch as close to high krauesen as possible. I've let it go a couple days, but ideally 24 hours is what you want. You can add O2, but if you get the container full of foam it won't make any difference. Thanks for that. I just saw something HERE (and YOU are featured both in the presentation and also in the comments) and it does not mention using foil on top although I would. It also says to keep the starter close to your desired fermenting temp which for me would be 50°. Do you agree with leaving the starter at that low of a temp? I thought that even lager starters should be left warmer to allow the yeast to giddy up. Finally, I have a pack of White Labs 940 which has a BEST date on it of May 13, 2022. I have never tried this method of starter so I'm a little twitchy about it being ready. I plan to brew Friday afternoon/evening so pitching time would probably be around 7pm. If I make the starter tonight... how does my timing sound? |
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Post by denny on Apr 27, 2022 13:54:46 GMT -6
You want to pitch as close to high krauesen as possible. I've let it go a couple days, but ideally 24 hours is what you want. You can add O2, but if you get the container full of foam it won't make any difference. Thanks for that. I just saw something HERE (and YOU are featured both in the presentation and also in the comments) and it does not mention using foil on top although I would. It also says to keep the starter close to your desired fermenting temp which for me would be 50°. Do you agree with leaving the starter at that low of a temp? I thought that even lager starters should be left warmer to allow the yeast to giddy up. Finally, I have a pack of White Labs 940 which has a BEST date on it of May 13, 2022. I have never tried this method of starter so I'm a little twitchy about it being ready. I plan to brew Friday afternoon/evening so pitching time would probably be around 7pm. If I make the starter tonight... how does my timing sound? Or you can look for the info from Saccharomyces on the AHA forum. He was the originator of the method so you can get info right from the source. No need to keep it at fermenting temp. You're growing yeast, not making beer, and yeast grows better at warmer temps. Doing it cooler will take longer and defeat the purpose. Don't sweat the date. This is Wed., right? (I had to check). You can do it now, but I'd wait til tomorrow morning. IMO it's better to pitch a bit before high krausen than after. |
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Post by Ken on Apr 27, 2022 15:23:57 GMT -6
Thanks for that. I just saw something HERE (and YOU are featured both in the presentation and also in the comments) and it does not mention using foil on top although I would. It also says to keep the starter close to your desired fermenting temp which for me would be 50°. Do you agree with leaving the starter at that low of a temp? I thought that even lager starters should be left warmer to allow the yeast to giddy up. Finally, I have a pack of White Labs 940 which has a BEST date on it of May 13, 2022. I have never tried this method of starter so I'm a little twitchy about it being ready. I plan to brew Friday afternoon/evening so pitching time would probably be around 7pm. If I make the starter tonight... how does my timing sound? Or you can look for the info from Saccharomyces on the AHA forum. He was the originator of the method so you can get info right from the source. No need to keep it at fermenting temp. You're growing yeast, not making beer, and yeast grows better at warmer temps. Doing it cooler will take longer and defeat the purpose. Don't sweat the date. This is Wed., right? (I had to check). You can do it now, but I'd wait til tomorrow morning. IMO it's better to pitch a bit before high krausen than after. LOL. Hey everyone! Denny doesn't know what day it is!  Okay, I will make it Thursday and I will update here after I have done it and give my impressions. Thanks Denny. |
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Post by Ken on Apr 28, 2022 9:45:46 GMT -6
Update: I made the starter this morning. My standard volume for a lager starter is 1500ml of water and 5.2 ounces of DME. I forget where that falls in the OG range but this is how I have been doing it for lagers for years with [what I consider to be] great results. I chilled the wort and got it into the gallon jug and shook. And shook and shook. It's a good amount of liquid in a 1-gallon jug. Then I carefully opened the pack of WLP940, poured it in, covered it loosely with sanitized foil, gave it a gentle swirl and it's sitting on my kitchen table awaiting action tomorrow. I hope it's ready. Do I give it a swirl every time I walk past it or just leave it alone?
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Post by gusso on Apr 28, 2022 11:36:56 GMT -6
I'm hardly an expert but I believe you leave it alone after the big initial shake.
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Post by tommymorris on Apr 28, 2022 13:14:01 GMT -6
Just leaving it be is fine. I just leave the lid sitting loose on my jar.
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Post by Ken on Apr 28, 2022 13:39:05 GMT -6
I moved it to a warmer spot and I'm just keeping an eye on it. I don't know why but I don't have any confidence in this. Probably because in the old days you just made some wort and dropped in your yeast which is what this feels like. Then stirplates came along and now you were in the cool club. Now stirplates are no good and I'm equating this process with pre-stirplate days.
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Post by denny on Apr 28, 2022 14:26:01 GMT -6
Or you can look for the info from Saccharomyces on the AHA forum. He was the originator of the method so you can get info right from the source. No need to keep it at fermenting temp. You're growing yeast, not making beer, and yeast grows better at warmer temps. Doing it cooler will take longer and defeat the purpose. Don't sweat the date. This is Wed., right? (I had to check). You can do it now, but I'd wait til tomorrow morning. IMO it's better to pitch a bit before high krausen than after. LOL. Hey everyone! Denny doesn't know what day it is!  Okay, I will make it Thursday and I will update here after I have done it and give my impressions. Thanks Denny. Once you retire, it seldom matters what day it is |
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