Starter Wort musings

[Henning1966]

I have a question for the group. Would it be ok to make starter wort and keep under co2 blanket in a keg in the kegerator? What I am thinking about doing is making 5 gallons of allgrain starter wort boiling 15 mins and then storing in a keg. The day of making a starter use the cobra tap fill flask and do another quick boil cool and pitch yeast.

[DannyW]

Dan Listermann in Cincinnati does this with great success, but overblankets with N2 rather than CO2. CO2 will eventually carbonate your wort and the yeast don't like that much.

[Sent From My iPhone]

Dan Listermann in Cincinnati does this with great success, but overblankets with N2 rather than CO2. CO2 will eventually carbonate your wort and the yeast don't like that much.

Wouldn't boiling again drive off the CO2?

[DannyW]

Oh, yeah. I read that in a hurry and missed the second boil part. If you are going to go through all that, why not use use DME? Seems to me the great benefit of the kegged wort is to be able to just dispense into your starter and away you go. That's even better than canning, if it works.

[Mylo]

Two thoughts:

Number one - it ain't going to last that long. Cold will help. I wouldn't feel safe relying on it for more that 2 months. You are not sterilizing that keg, you are sanitizing. There WILL be bugs and perhaps wild yeast in there that will eventually take a foothold.

Number two - although the CO2 will be driven off by the boil, as pointed out by Sheen - it will still be absorbed into the starter wort until an equalibrium is reached. If you want to maintin 3-4 pounds of pressure on that keg lid - you will end up putting in .5 volume of CO2 at fridge temps. Some other inert gas that isn't quite as soluable - like argon could maintain pressure on the lid without equalizing in the solution. Maybe check a neon supply shop.


Mylo

[DannyW]

FWIW, Listermann seems to think it has a pretty long shelf life the way he does it:

The wort flows into the corny keg boiling hot. Over pressurizing with N2
maintains the corny kegs seal as it cools and contracts. Essentially I
have a full five gallon keg of canned wort. The temperature of the wort
kills off about everything and the N2 keeps anything from getting in as it
cools. Like I said, I have a 3 gal. that is coming up on two years old with
no signs of fermentation.

He's still around now, 6 years later, so I guess it didn't kill him!

[Mylo]

Ah, ok... Didn't realize he transfers hot. That makes a little more sense. It still isn't sterile, but I guess it's the closest you can get to practically.


Mylo