After the stress and anxiety I had with the yeast in the last batch, I decided to learn all about making starters for liquid yeast packs.

Being that the Wyeast smak-paks are quite expensive (compared to dry yeasts), I figured this could be a good process to use, as you can get more out of your yeast. The down-side to this is that you have the same yeast to use for 6+ batches, which means you could be confined to certain ’styles’ of beer – in the case of what I am doing currently, I am confined to making British styles Ales, which I wouldn’t be able to use to make a Pilsener or a Witbier. This doesn’t bother me, as I quite like Brit-Ales, and my choice of yeast this time around (the Wyeast 1335 British Ale II strain).

SO anyway, here is how to make a Liquid Yeast Starter:

1. Smack the pack and allow it to swell as per the directions.
2. Boil up 100g of LDME in 1L of water. Leave the lid on and allow to cool (in a tub of water swirled around if you want to speed the process).
3. Sanitise a 2L PET bottle.
4. Pour in cool wort you created in step 2.
5. Pour in your liquid yeast.
6. Bung and airlock your 2L bottle (you can get bungs that fit a PET bottle at most HBSes).
7. Leave it until fermented out. A couple of days should be about right.
8. Sanitise 6 stubbies, swirl your starter to resuspend the yeast, and pour an equal amount into each stubbie, then cap them.
9. Store the stubbies in the back of your refrigerator until you need to use them, then create a starter (go to step 2), and add this to your brew at high krausen, or about 24 hours.

I have taken this directly from a conversation on Geoff & Oliver’s Homebrewandbeer forum. There is plenty more detail to be found in that and other forums.

Another good guide to making starters can be found over at Brodie’s Castle Brewing….

As I mentioned above, I have gone through this process with a British Ale II strain. I won’t know how successful my attempt was until I go to make a brew with one of these starters, but I imagine I won;t have any problems.