Cedar Rapids Brewing Society

I need some input. I have read that pitching the entire starter, especially 3 liter or greater can impart a bad flavor and/or aroma to your beer. I have also read that it doesn't matter. I have been getting some batches with an off taste and odor that I can't explain. I don't believe its sanitation, I've been very, very careful in that regard. But I caught a faint wiff of the off odor when I pitched an entire working 3 liter starter. Comments? Decant the starter or not?

I always decant most of the wort from my starter. I read it somewhere when I started brewing to do it that way, so I always have. All I want from my starter is good, healthy, hungry yeast.

From: jjbuck [mailto:brew-tech@crbeernuts.org]
Sent: Saturday, April 28, 2012 1:16 PM
To: brew-tech@crbeernuts.org
Subject: Pitching a starter



I need some input. I have read that pitching the entire starter, especially 3 liter or greater can impart a bad flavor and/or aroma to your beer. I have also read that it doesn't matter. I have been getting some batches with an off taste and odor that I can't explain. I don't believe its sanitation, I've been very, very careful in that regard. But I caught a faint wiff of the off odor when I pitched an entire working 3 liter starter. Comments? Decant the starter or not?




Brother John Brewing
The Monk at the Marion Monastary

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I decant if it's anything larger than 1L. If its 1L I time it so I'm pitching that entire starter at high krausen. Otherwise I let it ferment out and decant the wort.

I rarely decant and do starters in the 3L to 4L range for 10 gallons. I like to pitch it when it is most active usually 12-18 hours after doing the starter. JZ recommended this in a Zymurgy article and he did co-author a book about yeast with Chris White. It works for me. The IPA I won with in Cedar Falls was a 10 gallon batch made from one yeast packet and a huge starter. I think a key that helps me is I use 1.020 to 1.030 gravity wort for starters.

A simple experiment would be to do two starters, make one batch of beer, split it in to two fermenters and pitch one yeast decanted and the other with the hole thing. See if you notice a difference or if the flavor you are finding is still in both examples. Then you know the problem is elsewhere.

i ty to decant when i can, not always can i do that. it is also depends on me to the beer. if its something that is hard to hide an off flavor, then definatly decant. i usually make 2L starters. off course, the easy answer is decant the next few batches, if the detectable off flavor is still there, might not be the starter.

I make 2500ml starter for a 10 gal batch, and I make it the morning of or night before I brew, so when it comes time to pitch, it is actively fermenting. I shake, to make sure the yeast is evenly distributed, and pitch half in each fermenter. By doing this, and using yeast nutrient and an aquarium pump with carbonation stone, I usually have bubbles in my airlock within 4-5 hours.

I think big active starters have led to cleaner beer in my situation.

brownbeard wrote:I make 2500ml starter for a 10 gal batch, and I make it the morning of or night before I brew, so when it comes time to pitch, it is actively fermenting. I shake, to make sure the yeast is evenly distributed, and pitch half in each fermenter. By doing this, and using yeast nutrient and an aquarium pump with carbonation stone, I usually have bubbles in my airlock within 4-5 hours.

I think big active starters have led to cleaner beer in my situation.

How long do you let the pump run? I used mine for the first time last night. I started it as soon as the wort was running into the fermenter and let it run until it was done transferring. I then let it sit for another 5 minutes or so, and had a nice layer of frothy bubbles on top. Pitched my yeast and let it go for another couple of minutes. So I'd say around 10-12 minutes total. No airlock activity as of this morning.

When I pitched my last 3 liter starter, it was still working. Only about 12 hours. I used 100g of DME per liter. I aerated the cooled wort with O2 for 2 min (don't know the flow rate) with a carbonation stone. I had activity within 45 min. and was filling the blowoff hose within 3 hours. Perhaps the off aroma will be absorbed by the yeast in the secondary. DMS?

hoboscratch wrote:

brownbeard wrote:I make 2500ml starter for a 10 gal batch, and I make it the morning of or night before I brew, so when it comes time to pitch, it is actively fermenting. I shake, to make sure the yeast is evenly distributed, and pitch half in each fermenter. By doing this, and using yeast nutrient and an aquarium pump with carbonation stone, I usually have bubbles in my airlock within 4-5 hours.

I think big active starters have led to cleaner beer in my situation.

How long do you let the pump run? I used mine for the first time last night. I started it as soon as the wort was running into the fermenter and let it run until it was done transferring. I then let it sit for another 5 minutes or so, and had a nice layer of frothy bubbles on top. Pitched my yeast and let it go for another couple of minutes. So I'd say around 10-12 minutes total. No airlock activity as of this morning.

If I think of it a few days ahead of time I will let the starter ferment out, then cold crash it and decant off the beer, let it warm over the course of the brewday, gently swirl it up, then dump.

If I don't think of it, I will just dump an active, 1 liter starter made from light DME into the wort. That's not enough to affect flavor.

hoboscratch wrote: How long do you let the pump run? I used mine for the first time last night. I started it as soon as the wort was running into the fermenter and let it run until it was done transferring. I then let it sit for another 5 minutes or so, and had a nice layer of frothy bubbles on top. Pitched my yeast and let it go for another couple of minutes. So I'd say around 10-12 minutes total. No airlock activity as of this morning.

I usually do it about 20 minutes in the fermenter. After pitching the yeast starter.