Big Brew Log

Yeast Starters

2011-01-17T17:01:00.000-08:00

Something I have learned over the years is, everyone says you need to make a yeast starter for each batch. I never did one. I thought it was too much work and too hard. Everything seemed over my head when I would try to read about it or figure it all out.

Then I meet a guy that is now in the little brew club I started with some fiends (Big Brew Theory). He ran me through everything (few time), and I realized it isn't all that hard. I ended up taking a step further (with my buddies help) and not only do I make yeast starters, I cultivate the yeast too.

What I means is, I start out like I am doing a yeast starter, but I let the yeast go on a stir plate (that I built) for much longer. Then I pour that starter into jars and refrigerate it. By doing this, I have taken a yeast tube or smack pack and turned it from one beer into three. It was costing me about 13 bucks (in purchase and shipping) per beer for my yeast. Now that 13 bucks is getting me at least 4 beers.

I wanted to post some pictures of the stuff in action.

This was at hour 1. (Not much going on)

This was at hour 12. (There was a bit of action)

This was at hour 48. (The action had died down)

This was at hour 72. (Not much had changed)

Here were the jars with the yeasties. (These jars worked great, it split into the 4 perfectly)

This was the start of the yeast starter for brew day. (Not much going on)

By the 8th hour the yeasties were having a party.

I stopped the starter after 12 hours. I put the flask in the fridge and cooled it so the yeast would settle. I pulled most of the stuff off the top of the yeast, left a little bit in the flask and shook it up to get all the yeast of the bottom just before pitching.

I am stocked the stir plate worked so well, and from what I can see, within 12 hours the yeasties are having a good time in the carboy.

If anyone is interested in the stir plate, I will post some pictures and a step by step on how I built mine so that you can do this too.

2010-12-21T16:35:00.000-08:00

Sorry guys, the page is under a bit of construction at the moment. Should be all put together in a bit. Keep coming back for more stuff.

New Post

2010-12-16T21:47:00.000-08:00

For anyone that is interested, I posted an rather long article over at Real Beer Activist. Go check it out if you would like. I would like to know what you think.

In The Beginning

2010-12-11T09:15:00.000-08:00

It all started about 3 years ago.

I didn't drink much beer to tell you the truth. If I drank a beer, it was Budweiser, Bud Light, Coors, or Coors Light. I know, what it the hell was I thinking.

I had a friend of mine, Josh. He had mentioned that he and his dad brewed beer. I didn't think much of it. One day, I was over at his house, he let me try one. It was better than I had expected it to be, but not something I would have bought. We talked about it and later I thought I would give it a try. I got a website from him and purchased everything I would need from Williams Brewing. I was surprised to find out that most of the stuff was cheaper than I thought and I had everything in just a few days.

He came over to my house and we went through everything I purchased. I was exited to get started. He went through the process and we started brewing the beer. Along the way he explained the basic stuff and told me that the kit I had was a basic one and that the real fun came as I advanced into more complex grain bills.

Once I had finished fermentation, and the carbonation was complete after the beer was bottled, I took my first drink of my first ever brew. I thought it came out good. Everyone that tried that beer said it tasted good. Needless to say, I was hooked. From that point on, I have been a home brewer.
I will continue to catch up with where I am today in the next few posts. I want to use this small blog as a place I can post anything you might find interesting about beer, brewing, beer news, and so on. I am also a contributor to a great online community at RealBeerActivist.com. Check back soon for more as I attempt to build the site.