Containers for Yeast Starter

[periolus]

I have only ever made a couple of starters, but my brew app suggests I should be doing this a lot more - a couple of recipes are already demanding 1 - 2L starters.

I have a 1L conical flask, but wondered if a small 1 gallon plastic fermenter can be used effectively for this. It’s harder to achieve a ‘stir’, I guess - any suggestions of what has worked for you will be much appreciated!

 

[Clarence]

Tesco Ashbeck 5 litres is ony £1.35. Better than a fermenter as it's got a narrow neck, whereas I imagine your fermenter in like a small bucket with a lid on it. No good on a sir plate as it doesn't have a perfectly flat bottom, but no problem, just give it a swirl very time you pass. I've never used a stir plate in my life and have never had any trouble building starters.

 

[Jim Brewster]

A demijohn would probably work. I once cultured up some yeast from organic ginger root and just did it in a sterilised glass jar, daily adding water and sugar and swirling. You don't need a stir plate during fermentation so why would a starter need one?

 

[periolus]

Tesco Ashbeck 5 litres is ony £1.35. Better than a fermenter as it's got a narrow neck, whereas I imagine your fermenter in like a small bucket with a lid on it. No good on a sir plate as it doesn't have a perfectly flat bottom, but no problem, just give it a swirl very time you pass. I've never used a stir plate in my life and have never had any trouble building starters.

Sounds good and definitely cheaper than flasks! Do you just use a rubber bung and airlock, or have you adapted the screw top?

 

[MickDundee]

I buy 3L coke bottles from B&M. I have one I use for yeast starters and a second one I use for cleaning my beer lines

 

[An Ankoù]

Sounds good and definitely cheaper than flasks! Do you just use a rubber bung and airlock, or have you adapted the screw top?

When making a yeast starter it's better to use a doubled over piece of aluminium foil. You can keep it in place, loosely, with an elastic band if you want. You can't really swirl the vessel with an airlock fitted, and it needs regular swirling.
The three litre Coke bottle sounds ideal, but more tip-overable.
In fact, I've never needed anything bigger than a one litre flask. I make up 600 ml of starter and pitch it into a 10-12 litre brew and then use the slurry for a bigger batch. That way, the build time is being used to produce something useful.

 

[Clarence]

Tesco Ashbeck 5 litres is ony £1.35. Better than a fermenter as it's got a narrow neck, whereas I imagine your fermenter in like a small bucket with a lid on it. No good on a sir plate as it doesn't have a perfectly flat bottom, but no problem, just give it a swirl very time you pass. I've never used a stir plate in my life and have never had any trouble building starters.

I use a small size lunch/freezer bag secured with a rubber band. They come on a roll of hundreds for very little dosh. It's so long since I bought a new roll, I can't remember.

 

[crescent city Mike]

I've used so many different "vessels" to house starters. Of course it depends on the size of the starter but quart jars or gallon jugs used to be my standard but now I use Erlenmeyer flasks. 2 or 3 liter plastic Coke bottles work well but are prone to tipping over.

 

[periolus]

Thanks for all the advice and ideas. I will definitely look into these and experiment a little. I’ll let you know how I get on.

 

[DaleMC]

Always just used a big Kilner jar, burping it from time to time and stirring by giving it a swirl whenever i walk by. It's worked for me!

 

[Hazelwood Brewery]

I use 2-litre coke bottles and these work perfectly fine as you can see below.

For my last imperial stout I wanted quite a big starter so used two bottles and built a couple of 2-stage starters. First stage I added 1 pack of yeast to 1-litre of wort.

The next morning tip off the spent wort and top up with another litre and a half.

Next day tip of most of the spent wort and swirl what’s left to make the slurry that gets pitched. The lid on the bottle is just screwed on just enough to engage the thread but lets the gas out otherwise, if loose, the CO2 can blow the lid off and if tightened you will carbonate the wort and have a small Vesuvius when you undo the lid.

.

 

[RoboBrewBot5000]

Question: I want to make a 5L starter and I only have a 3L flask...could I clean and sanitise a saucepan, boil up the starter wort and just use the saucepan as the container? This will fit on the stirplate and allow me to use the stir bar.

I know I can do step ups, and I know I can use a 5L water bottle and shake it every so often. What I'd like to know is, do you think the saucepan idea would be OK? My gut feeling is it'll probably be alright.