A small beer used to grow yeast for a much bigger beer.
This is not a container of juice or muddy water. This is actually a yeast starter made in the only 2L container I could find on short notice. A starter is basically a tiny beer brewed for the purpose of growing yeast for a much bigger beer. I really wanted to use the yeast I harvested several months ago but was not sure on its viability, so creating a ‘starter’ was the best option. I boiled 2L of water with 2 cups of DME which had a gravity of about 1.035. I took the harvested yeast from the fridge, warmed it to room temperature, decanted the liquid and pitched the small amount of yeast into the cooled wort.
The next morning I could see signs of fermentation so its obvious that the yeast is viable. I need to stir it several time over the next couple days to keep the yeast suspended in the wort and not settled on the bottom where won’t grow as quickly. Once its done I can decant some of the liquid and move it into a clean mason jar, then place it in the fridge to settle out out the yeast.
On a side note I have all the ingredients for my big beer, which is basically 10lbs of grain, 3lbs of DME and 4oz of hops. With the Candi sugar ready and the yeast starter started Saturday is the planned ‘brew day’. This is going to be the biggest, most challenging beer I have made to date!