Beer Forum

Does anyone know if doing a starter with pilsner DME is a bad idea because of the DMS that is associated with pilsner malt?

I wouldn't think it a problem with such small quantities. DMS is usually a problem only if you cool it slowly after the boil.

I wouldn't worry about it at all. If you do worry, just decant.

Not an issue at all. I'd expect that the DMS (and SMM, for that matter) is totally driven off in the DME-ifying process.

I am going to be making the starter in a 2L erylenmeyer. I wouldn't ever decan't off yeast...i want as much yeast as possible. I'm going to make these little fuckers chew their way through a 1.100 OG wort. Why you ask??? because i am king...

Anyway, i guess that my question could have been answered by pseudolus in that DMS is removed in the process of making the extract. But, part of me wants to doubt it (for example: until someone with a phD in thermophysics can explain to me.... i will not believe in hot side airation!). When they make DME, they don't boil it, they heat it up in a vacuum to "boil it" which reduces it in volume and concentrates it.

If you're going to be pitching yeast into a batch of 1.100 wort and not decanting, then you're either going to be pitching a whole lot of starter beer into your batch or you're going to be seriously underpitching. If you plan ahead - make your starter and step it up well in advance of your brew day - then you have plenty of time to chill it down so that virtually all of the yeast flocculates out. Then you can decant off the not-so-tasty starter beer and pitch the almost-all-the-yeast-and-close-to-none-of-the-starter-beer that remains.

Pseudolus wrote:If you're going to be pitching yeast into a batch of 1.100 wort and not decanting, then you're either going to be pitching a whole lot of starter beer into your batch or you're going to be seriously underpitching. If you plan ahead - make your starter and step it up well in advance of your brew day - then you have plenty of time to chill it down so that virtually all of the yeast flocculates out. Then you can decant off the not-so-tasty starter beer and pitch the almost-all-the-yeast-and-close-to-none-of-the-starter-beer that remains.

this is going to be a belgian beer....i've had great success not making starters for belgian strong darks....you end up with a higher ester profile without a starter. I just want to try and increase the phenolics of the yeast and try a similar recipe that i've done before with a starter. Since my base malt is pilsner, i thought i'd use pilsner extract for the starter. But, i just went to LHBS and got some extra-light DME, so i'll use that.

oh...pseudolus....and i just noticed that you live in Rhode Island. i used to live in westerly. man RI is freaking small. you can drive from one end to the other in 45 minues...and that is diagonally across the state. the whole state is one area code, 401! only 5 digits on the license plate. yet i really miss living there.

boobookittyfuk wrote:this is going to be a belgian beer....i've had great success not making starters for belgian strong darks....you end up with a higher ester profile without a starter.

Maybe you've been lucky so far, but undpitching to that extreme is something I won't risk. For something as big as 1.100, I would probably use a whole lower-gravity batch as my "starter", and reuse the yeast from that. Good luck with your experiment.