Yeast Starter for 10 gallons

Thu Apr 09, 2009 5:04 pm

I am planning to brew 10 gallons of IPA at 1.062 with WLP 001 Cal Ale Yeast on Saturday. I made a 2 L starter today with 1 vial, which is enough for a 5 gallon batch. I am going to ferment in two 6.5 gal. plastic fermenters. Should I pitch an extra vial in the starter or pitch the starter in one bucket and scrape the krausen into the other bucket on day 2? I know the 2nd batch would have a long lag time, waiting for the 1st batch to get going, but those yeast are super strong and perhaps this way I can pitch the proper amount of yeast for both batches and only use 1 vial. Any thoughts? How do ya'll get a proper pitch for 10 gallons?
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Hoppy Brewah
 
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Re: Yeast Starter for 10 gallons

Thu Apr 09, 2009 5:57 pm

Hoppy Brewah wrote:I am planning to brew 10 gallons of IPA at 1.062 with WLP 001 Cal Ale Yeast on Saturday. I made a 2 L starter today with 1 vial, which is enough for a 5 gallon batch. I am going to ferment in two 6.5 gal. plastic fermenters. Should I pitch an extra vial in the starter or pitch the starter in one bucket and scrape the krausen into the other bucket on day 2? I know the 2nd batch would have a long lag time, waiting for the 1st batch to get going, but those yeast are super strong and perhaps this way I can pitch the proper amount of yeast for both batches and only use 1 vial. Any thoughts? How do ya'll get a proper pitch for 10 gallons?
Cheers!


You could top crop from the first batch, but you are risking infection by waiting that long to pitch to the second batch. I would say just make another starter. If you don't have another vessel, just go out and get a cheap bottle of soda, drink the soda and sanitize the bottle. Then you've got another 2 liter starter.
Or at least that's what I would do.
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ColdBraue
 
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Re: Yeast Starter for 10 gallons

Fri Apr 10, 2009 1:39 pm

The first 2 L starter has been going for a day and a half. I am going to make up another 2 L of wort with DME and pitch the 1st starter on the the 2nd starter in a 5 gal carboy, as I don't have anything smaller. Then I'll have to decant some beer out of the carboy and split the yeast between two 6.5 gal. fermenters for the IPA. I guess I should get a 5 L erlenmeyer flask for 10 gal. brew days. Any comments? Thanks!
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Hoppy Brewah
 
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Re: Yeast Starter for 10 gallons

Sun Apr 12, 2009 4:34 pm

Check out Jamil's pitching rate calculator http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html
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Quin
 
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Re: Yeast Starter for 10 gallons

Sun Apr 12, 2009 6:16 pm

I just bought a 5L flask, for this reason.
I plan to go to 10 gallon batches, so no more 2L starters.
Thinking of pitching yeast onto 2L, then in a few days, add 2 more, or something like that.
Any suggestions?
layne
 
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Re: Yeast Starter for 10 gallons

Mon Apr 13, 2009 2:48 am

I brewed up the IPA on Saturday and pitched the entire 4 L starter from the carboy into the 15 gallon Hot Liquor Tank with the sight glass removed. Fortunately I had some friends stop by when I had to move the kettle with 10 gallons of wort - I probably would have broken my back or spilled the whole batch on the floor. Anywho, the beer was fermenting away like crazy when I checked it the next morning, about 14 hours later. I might buy an extra 15 gal stainless pot to ferment in - it is easy to clean and sanitize, add dry hops, scrape the krausen if you want to transfer the yeast to a new batch, and costs a lot less than a stainless conical. Yea, a 5 L flask would be ideal for 10 gallon fermentations!
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