When to start a starter?
Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2009 9:27 am
How long before pitching do you all usually start your starter? I'm brewing a Scottish 70/- on Monday and will probably be ready to pitch around (good) noon.
For me it depends on if I am going to pitch the whole starter, or decant the liquid off the top.
If I am going to pitch the whole thing, I try make the starter around 12-18 hours before I want to pitch it into the wort. Ideally you want to pitch when the yeast is at high krausen if you are going this route so your yeast is good and active.
If I am going to decant (which I do for large starters), I will make it about three days ahead of time. This leaves around 24-36 hours to ferment, then i stick it in the fridge to cold crash it for a day, and on day 3 the yeast has mostly flocculated to the bottom and the liquid can be poured off, and the slurry can be pitched after slowly warming to pitching temps.
