Another starter/propagation question

[Newbie]

Hello. I am trying to get a handle on pitching rates for my beers.

1. Whats the difference between propagating yeast and making a starter?

2. If I am making 10 gallon batches and want to use 2 vials and double the number of yeast cells so I can get close to .75 million cells/ml. How many ML's of wort at 1.040 would I need? Formulas are welcome..lol

3. Can I make one vial and use more wort and quadruple my yeast cells?

Thanks!

[Travisty]

Give this site a try. Should help a lot.

http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

[Metal Tiger]

Give this site a try. Should help a lot.

http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

+ 1

Yes the Mr. Malty calculator works. Basically two vials in a 1600 ml starter on a stir plate will do the trick for 6 gal batches up to 1.070 wort. Your milage may vary. For the 12 gal batch just make two.

BTW you asked about propagation of yeast. Thats a big subject. Get the book by Chris White and Jamil, "Yeast: The Practical Guide to Beer Fermentation" here:
http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/store/ ... 0db6777ccb

[Newbie]

Thanks!

I missed the yeast vials needed part on the the Mr Malty calculator.

Anyone know where I can find the math behind the calculator?

Book is ordered.

Cheers!

[tylercipriani]

The math behind the calculator is somewhat outlined on Jamil's site - what isn't there can be derived from working backwards. To my knowledge the actual math isn't published anywhere.

If you're really interested in getting into the nitty gritty of yeast and pitching rates then buying a microscope and hemocytometer is totally the way to go. See info on cell counts here:

http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/cell_count.html

I got my supplies very cheaply from ebay:

microscope:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 456wt_1139

cheap hemocytometer:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 902wt_1139

There is plenty of info on cell counts in Chris White's and Jamil's yeast book.

You'll also need .4mm slip covers for the hemocytomter - the ones included are only .17mm which isn't enough to overcome the surface tension of a sample.

For a year or so leading up to actually purchasing the hemocytometer I used sedimented cell volumes in a 50mL container - and I actually still use this as a double check for my counts - it's been completely accurate so it's a viable option. Check out the Wyeast labs commercial site for more details on sedimented cell volume:

http://www.wyeastlab.com/com-yeast-harvest.cfm