Proper Yeast Pitching Rates
- Ales & Lagers
- The Math
- Pitching From Tubes, Packs, or Dry Yeast
- Starters and Stir Plates
- Repitching Yeast
There is quite a lot of information and discussion on the web and in books about proper yeast pitching rates. Maybe it is the wealth of information that makes it so confusing, but I run into many people that are completely confused about how much yeast they should pitch. Hopefully, the following won’t just add more confusion, but instead it will make it a little easier to understand the math behind pitching rates and what is really required.
Fourteen Essential Questions About Yeast Starters
- Q: Do I always need to make a starter?
- Q: When shouldn’t I make a starter?
- Q: How do I make a starter?
- Q: Should I add hops when I make my starter wort?
- Q: Should I add oxygen to my starter?
- Q: How much yeast or how big a starter do I need?
- Q: Does a starter need to be kept at the same temperature as it is going to ferment the batch of beer later?
- Q: At what point do I pitch the starter into the wort?
- Q: I’ve heard that too small or too large a starter can be bad for the yeast. How is that possible?
- Q: If I’m making a high gravity beer, shouldn’t I make a high gravity starter so the yeast become acclimated?
- Q: When increasing a starter in steps, should the steps be a certain size?
- Q: Don’t I need a stir plate to make a starter?
- Q: Can I pitch just a portion of the pack/vial into the same sized starter and get the same amount of cells at the end?