Starter

[paulgough]

I'm brewing on Saturday and would like to make a starter.

I read in GW to use a glass milk bottle and 300 ml water to 55 g DME.

I've since read that I should be using 2 litres At OG 1040.

I don't have a vessel big enough for 2 litres but would still like to make a starter to give my S 04 a good start.

What would you recommend I do?

 

[NickW]

You won't need a starter with a dry yeast like S04. Liquid yeasts yes, dried no.

The best thing you van do is rehydrate the yeast in 100ml of water (20-25c) for 15 mins, give it a swirl then pitch into your beer :thumb:

 

[rpt]

S04 should be rehydrated between 24 and 30C. See the data sheet for full instructions.

 

[NickW]

S04 should be rehydrated between 24 and 30C. See the data sheet for full instructions.

My apologies :thumb:

 

[Runwell-Steve]

2 litres would be ideal, but its not easy if you don't have a big enough vessel. I make 1 litre starters and split it between two 20 litre batches.

As you are using S 04 you have some options, starring with the worst, then getting better.

1, just sprinkle the pack on the wort.
2, rehydrate the yeast then add to the wort. ( manufacturers recommendation)
3, make a 1 pint starter and sprinkle the yeast in
4, make a 1 pint starter and put rehydrated yeast in.

Then the bigger the starter up to about 2 litres the better. It comes down to what level you want to go to, for me a 1 litre starter split between my 2 fermenters with 20 litres in each works well, so that's really equivalent to a 1 pint starter in a 5 gallon batch. Whatever you do it will be a lot better than sprinkling dried yeast straight in.