Multiplying yeast in a gallon starter - how much?

[bsegroves]

Hello,

I am preparing a yeast starter for the first time and I have a couple of how and why questions.
I am planning on brewing an Imperial Blonde Ale and I want to go big, and possibly add an extra can of malt extract to see what happens.
I am using liquid yeast and my plan is to start it and multiply it until there are enough cells swimming around to get a strong ferment.
Here are the steps that I have done so far:

1. I boiled 1 cup of water with 1/2 cup dry malt extract and 1/4 wyeast nutrient.

2. I steralized a gallon jug, stopper, and airlock.

3. I filled the jug with the boiled wort and let it cool to room temp while also letting the liquid yeast warm up to room temp.

4. I added the yeast to the cooled wort and capped it with the airlock.

I did all of this yesterday and my plan is to let it do it's thing, then add more wort and do the whole process again to create a double batch.

Here are my questions:

Am I doing this right? Should I pour off the spent wort before I add more? Should I be mixing up a larger volume?
When it is finally ready to pitch, should I dump the whole thing into my brew or leave it in the fridge and pour off the spent wort from the yeast?

Thanks in advance for your help!

cheers,
Brannon

[bsegroves]

I ended up adding more wort last night after the bubbling slowed.
I have been stirring it up every so often, seems to be working.

cheers

[siwelwerd]

Am I doing this right? Should I pour off the spent wort before I add more? Should I be mixing up a larger volume?
When it is finally ready to pitch, should I dump the whole thing into my brew or leave it in the fridge and pour off the spent wort from the yeast?

First, the size depends on the gravity of your brew. With 1/4 L, you are going to get minimal yeast growth. You really should be looking at a 1 or 2L starter. Also, you don't want an airlock on your starter. You should cover the top with sanitized tinfoil, and shake it intermittently to promote oxygen flow into the wort (oxygen is necessary for yeast reproduction). As to chilling and decanting, this is a preference based on starter size. Personally if I go over 2L I would chill/decant, but under it I just pitch the whole thing.

[6thstreetbrewer]

Check out mrmalty.com. All of your questions answered by the pope!

[bsegroves]

Bitchin!
Thanks you guys. It's making more sense now. That's a great link.
I got rid of the airlock, sprayed down some foil with starsan as well as the bottle opening, and wrapped up that sucker.
I also added more wort last night. I think there is about a liter now. I am going to add more to bring it up to two liters. The OG of my brew says 1.058 - 1.064, but I am going to add an extra can of malt extract hoping for a little higher gravity.
I plan on brewing Saturday. Hopefully the starter will be ready. It has a thick head when I shake it. I wonder if I'm going to need a blowoff tube?

thanks,
Brannon

[ColdBraue]

I've never seen a starter look so artistic!

[Techie101]

I would taste and smell that starter before I pitched it. You may have been able to sanitize the jug itself but you've got plenty of air in there that may very well have had bacteria in it. With 1L of wort in a 1 gallon jug you've got plenty room for that to happen. I would have some dry yeast ready, maybe a couple of packs just in case. If you get ready to pitch it and it tastes and smells a little sour or just "off", dump it. Its not worth trying to use and losing an entire 5gal batch.

[bsegroves]

LOL thanks.
It's an artistic ale

I've never seen a starter look so artistic!

Dang! I knew that I should have bought the half gallon. I'm going to go ahead and get an Erlenmeyer flask. I was trying to save a little money, but there's no hope for that now. The brewing bug has taken hold.
I guess if it smells funky on brewing day I'm going to just wait. I am kind of stoked on using liquid yeast for the first time.
Thanks for letting me know that. I feel a little paranoid about it now.
When I taste it, it should resemble beer right?
Is it sort of an ammonia type smell I'm looking for?

Thank you,
Brannon

I would taste and smell that starter before I pitched it. You may have been able to sanitize the jug itself but you've got plenty of air in there that may very well have had bacteria in it. With 1L of wort in a 1 gallon jug you've got plenty room for that to happen. I would have some dry yeast ready, maybe a couple of packs just in case. If you get ready to pitch it and it tastes and smells a little sour or just "off", dump it. Its not worth trying to use and losing an entire 5gal batch.