Making Yeast Starters

The most significant improvement to your beers can be made by moving from using dry yeast packs to the pure liquid yeast cultures. The differences are shocking and you probably won't believe it until you try it. Using these liquid yeasts will perhaps be the most significant improvement you will make to your brewing.

However, Liquid yeast packs simply do not have enough viable yeast for large batches or high gravity beers. So how do you get around this problem? Simple, make a yeast starter. In this way you can grow a healthy yeast colony which will ensure that you have a strong and healthy fermentation. This will eliminate many off flavors and reduce the chance for infection. Dave Miller has a good and simple method for making up sterile wort for using as yeast starters. We strongly recommend using this method for it's simplicity and effectiveness. This recipe makes enough sterile wort for 12 starters.

Miller's recipe for 3 gallons of sterile wort.

• 4-pound can or 3 pounds dry malt extract
• 1 teaspoon yeast energizer
• .5 oz hops
• 3.5 gal brewing water
• 12 1-quart canning jars, lids and rings
• 5-gallon brewpot and other brewing equipment

Step 1

Dissolve the extract and energizer in 2.5 gallons water. Bring this to a boil and add hops when boil is reached.

Step 2

Boil the wort for 15 minutes then strain off hops into a bucket which has been premarked at the 3-gallon level. Top up the wort to the 3-gallon level with additional brewing water.

Step 3

Fill the jars, fit the lids (boiled per the instructions which come with the lids) and rings. Put six jars into the brewpot and fill with water up to the rings on the jars with warm water. Bring to a boil then turn down heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.

Step 4

Remove jars very carefully and let cool. Put the remaining 6 jars into the pot and bring to a boil and simmer as before.

Step 5

When the jars are cool you can remove the rings and set them aside for reuse. You now have 12 quarts full of vacuum sealed sterile wort ready for making starters. With this supply of sterile wort you are ready to activate your yeast packet.

Contrary to the manufacturers recommendations, we suggest that you activate the packet 3 days before your planned brewing session. However, be ready to adjust your brewing plans. You cannot brew until the yeast is ready.

Activate the yeast pouch by breaking the inner plastic bag. This mixes the yeast with a concentrated wort. At this point the yeast will start absorbing nutrients and fermenting the wort. After breaking the inner bag, shake the pouch vigorously for 5 minutes. This aerates the wort as well as mixing up the yeast and wort. Yeast requires oxygen for growth and will not ferment well unless the packages is well aerated. Keep the package in a warm area, around 75 °F. Shake the package every few hours until it swells up. This will take around 2 days for a new package.

When the package has swollen to at least 1" sanitize a 1/2 to 1 gallon jug, airlock, stopper, bottle opener, a pair of scissors, a funnel, and the yeast package itself in a chlorine or Iodophor solution. Just prior to using rinse everything with sterile water. Open the jar of sterile wort, flame-sterilize the mouth of the jar, and funnel the wort into the jug. Cut open the yeast pack with the sanitized scissors and pour the contents into the jug. Attach the stopper and airlock and aerate the starter for several minutes. Continue to aerate the starter for 2 minutes every hour or so for the next 7-8 hours. By the next day it should be fermenting strongly and ready to pitch.

Just before pitching, swirl the starter to resuspend all the yeast and flame the mouth of the jug before adding it to the wort.

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