Yeast Starters are a great way to save money on yeast. Both Wyeast and White Labs claim to have 100 billion cells per package. That might sound like a lot but the optimum pitch rate for a modest O.G. of 1.054 is considered to be 10 million cells/ml. That means 230 billion cells in a 23 L batch. More than two packs of yeast! Or you can make a yeast starter.
Use 100 g of Dry Malt Extract per Liter of water to make some starter wort. An Erlenmeyer Flask is the ideal “fermenter” for this because the borosilicate glass can handle rapid temperature change from boiling wort down to room temperature. The flat bottom also makes it compatible with the magnetic stir plate. Although it’s possible to do a starter without the stir plate, check out this Yeast Calculator to see how much a stir plate increases the growth rate of the yeast.
Starting with 100 billion cells:
- 1 L Starter without stir plate yields 152 billion
- 1 L Starter with stir plate yields 228 to 241 billion
Our stir plates include a magnetic stir bar but you can also purchase those separately.
