Yeast starter with WLP800

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Budgie

Budgie

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Evening all,

I'm having a crack at a Pilsner this week with WLP800. It'll be my first time making a starter. According to the WhiteLabs website I need a 2 litre starter with 1 cup of DME. Does that sound about right?

How far in advance should I make it? I seen some suggest as little as 12 hours and some as long as 3 days. Any clarification would be great.

Cheers.
 
MyQul said:
Dunno about cups but you need 210g of DME.

12 hours to 3 days is right. About 12 hours if you want to pitch at high krausen or 2 days should see it ready
Click to expand...

Cheers MyQul. I was just about to take to google to find out how many grams in a cup :lol: so you've saved me the hassle there. I'm planning on brewing on Thursday (no chill) so will be pitching on Friday. I think I'll make the starter tomorrow. Thanks again.
 
The difference between 12 hours and 3 days is likely to be whether you use a stir plate or not.

Stir plates are very good at allowing yeast to grow very quickly, although I would say 12 hours is pretty quick even for a stir plate starter.

If you aren't using a stir plate, I would get it started ASAP and remember to shake it regularly to introduce more air and keep the yeast in suspension.
 
As it's going in a pilsner I'd make it far enough in advance so you can crash the starter and pour off the spent wort. That's not something I usually do but in something as delicate as a pilsner I definitely would.
 
I made my starter this afternoon and I've given it a shake every now and then. I'll definitely be building a stir plate from StragneSteve's post after Christmas.

If I'm pitching on Friday would that give me enough time to c rash too, or am I cutting it fine? I'd rather decant the wort off first if I can.
 
I'd say you dont have enough time to crash and decant as you'd want at least 12-24 for that as well. Simply shaking grows a lot less yeast cells than using a stir plate (have a play with a yeast calc and you'll see what I mean) plus lagers need a lot of yeast. If you try to crash and decant without giving it enough time you may decant off valuable yeast cells along with spent wort and end up with a stuck brew
 
How long would it keep in the fridge? I might be better off doing a pale ale tomorrow and doing the Pilsner at the beginning of next week.
 
About 2-3 weeks. After that you'll want to make another starter with it.

I've had a similar situation myself. I made a large starter on friday with some MJ workhorse yeast (portioned some of for an overbuild) and was going to brew tommorow and pitch the rest of the starter fri morning but I changed my mind as I want to go cycling instead and I'm going away for Xmas on friday. So I've just left the starter (minus the overbuild which I've put in the fridge) on the kitchen floor. When I come back from xmas holidays I'll rack off most of the the spent wort and put the starter yeast in the fridge till the first fri of january then make anothor starter with it
 
I would have had plenty of time for my starter if I hadn't left the yeast on the counter in the LHBS last Friday! I only got a chance to go back there today.

Good to know it'll keep for a while, I'll postpone till next week. It'd be a shame to go to the trouble of a lager and rush the first step.

Cheers for all the input guys. Very helpful as ever.
 

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