9 replies to this topic

[Brownbeard]

Can I make a lager starter this afternoon, and pitch it tomorrow? Of course I can, but will it work? I am using White Labs WLP833 Bock yeast. Also, I have only done one lager prior to this. Should I ferment my starter at ale or lager temps?

[orudis]

Can I make a lager starter this afternoon, and pitch it tomorrow? Of course I can, but will it work? I am using White Labs WLP833 Bock yeast. Also, I have only done one lager prior to this. Should I ferment my starter at ale or lager temps?

definitely ferment at ale temps. Can't speak to whether 24 hrs is enough time. Probably not, but I don't know. Is it super fresh?

[BrewerGeorge]

Seems too fast to me. If you try it, you'd definitely better use ale temps for it, and a stir plate if you've got one.

[Brownbeard]

Hmmm... Maybe I am brewing on saturday.

[Darterboy]

You used "quick" and "lager" in the same post. If you're going to pitch the entire starter, it's not advisable to ferment at ale temps- Lager yeast at 70F produce off flavors that you do not want in your beer. Try to at least keep it under 60F and I wouldn't stir-plate it either. You don't want 2 liters of oxidized beer in your main batch. I only use a stir plate when I have time for the starter to ferment all the way out and can crash cool it and decant the spent wort off the yeast.Your best bet if you're brewing tomorrow would be to pitch an extra vial, say two vials into a 2-liter starter the night before at 50F and then pitch the whole thing. Next best bet would be 1 vial in a 1-liter starter overnight, cool and no stir plate.That being said, you could just pitch the one vial with no starter. Be prepared for a 3-4 day lag time and a slow ferment, but it'll make beer.

[Brownbeard]

I was pretty sure it was too fast of a turnaround. I didn't even consider it, when I planned the brew session and ordered. I do ales starters in 24 hours all the time.

[ncbeerbrewer]

I know you ferment lagers at cold temps but I thought we have seen it stated here before the point of a starter is to multiply your yeast population not make drinkable beer. I don't think 24 hours even at ale temps is enough to make an appropriate amount of yeast for a lager but maybe if you have or use a stir plate. I have to do two ferments to get up to my lager pitch amounts but I think it would be tough to make enough yeast especially for a lager in such a short period of time. If you did you might risk a good final gravity and a much slower fermentation.

[MtnBrewer]

I was pretty sure it was too fast of a turnaround. I didn't even consider it, when I planned the brew session and ordered. I do ales starters in 24 hours all the time.

24 hours is fine for an ale starter but lager starters are so large that it takes at least a couple of days for them to ferment out.

[tag]

Lager starters need to be twice as large as ale starters. Check out MrMalty.com for more info about yeast starters.

[dagomike]

Lager yeast, or at least my usual yeast, seem to take an extra day to get going. If you have really fresh stuff, it might get going faster, but usually I plan two days for a step or to chill for decanting.