Lager Yeast Starter

[Kazi the Younger]

If someone can direct me to a link on this site that has good procedural info on making a good Lager Yeast starter, that would be great. I am aware of the pitching rate calculator and how to make a starter, but what I'm looking for is general tips and tricks.

For a lager starter, should I do it @ room temp, and then cool it down to pitching temp? How long and how do I cool down a lager starter to pitching temp without shocking the yeast? Should I just do a starter and stick it right in the fridge @ 50 degrees?

What do you experienced lager brewers do?

[Dmac08]

Not sure about a link but I think I can answer a couple of your questions. You can ferment the starter at room temp. When you see the yeast has started to flocc you can simply put the starter in the fridge. When ready to pitch just decant the spent beer. Ideally you want the yeast to be as close to the temp of the wort you are pitching into. For a lager that should be between 44-48.

[Brian Perkey]

try this one..........http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_makingastarter.cfm

[Sent From My iPhone]

try this one..........http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_makingastarter.cfm

Brian, what are your thought about using olive oil to increase sterols?

[Brian Perkey]

It is pretty intriguing, but I have yet to try it myself. Several folks that I have talked to have had good success with it, and the folks at New Belgium even ran with it for a while, releasing 2100 HL of product to market using this method. The two big factors that seemed to come into play was that there was an increased fermentation time, up to 20%, and an increase in ester production, notably acetaldehyde (Green Apple), ethyl acetate (Solvent), isoamyl acetate (Bannana) and ethyl hexanoate (Apple-anise). But these were so slight that even though the GC picked it up, taste panel couldn't or preferred the olive oil ferments. Read Grady Hulls New Belgium thesis at http://www.brewcrazy.com/hull-olive-oil-thesis.pdf for the whole lowdown.

[Sent From My iPhone]

Yeah, I read that. Interesting stuff, just wondering if Wyeast had done any experimenting.

[seanhagerty]

It is pretty intriguing, but I have yet to try it myself. Several folks that I have talked to have had good success with it, and the folks at New Belgium even ran with it for a while, releasing 2100 HL of product to market using this method. The two big factors that seemed to come into play was that there was an increased fermentation time, up to 20%, and an increase in ester production, notably acetaldehyde (Green Apple), ethyl acetate (Solvent), isoamyl acetate (Bannana) and ethyl hexanoate (Apple-anise). But these were so slight that even though the GC picked it up, taste panel couldn't or preferred the olive oil ferments. Read Grady Hulls New Belgium thesis at http://www.brewcrazy.com/hull-olive-oil-thesis.pdf for the whole lowdown.

Wow! Ok, how does this apply to us at the homebrew level. The paper discussed above talks about adding olive oil to the yeast as it was in storage. Any mixing Method I can see the average homebrewer using would include the olive oil going into the fermenter for mixing with the wort and yeast. I am amazed to see these results. I had thought this was a myth.

Sean