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No Liquid yeast ...

mikifin101

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I want to brew a lager, but all the books say use a yeast starter.
I cannot purchase liquid yeast where I live, only dried yeast.
Can I make a yeast starter with this?
Or should I just prime the yeast as usual and pitch.?
 
You can use any type yeast as an yeast starter. Boil some (DME) Dry Malt Extract, cool and add the dry yeast. Make sure you airrate it well and it should build up to a good pitching amount. The main thing is to get the wort fermenting with the "Yeast of choice"! The more you have the less you worry!
Good Luck
 
This is where the "search" tool in the top right corner is so valuable!!
A search on "yeast starter" will turn up more info than you can read, but simply put.....

Make a 1030 or so wort (about a litre is plenty) by boiling some DME (I use less than a cup) and let it cool. Pitch your yeast into this and let sit for about 24 hours @ 70 - 80 degrees. This is your "starter". You may miss the fermentation because it finishes soo quickly, but you should be able to gently mix this up (so none lies on the bottom of whatever you used and gets stuck there) and pour it onto your beer.

Cheers!
 
mikifin101 said:
I want to brew a lager, but all the books say use a yeast starter.
I cannot purchase liquid yeast where I live, only dried yeast.
Can I make a yeast starter with this?
Or should I just prime the yeast as usual and pitch.?


What the books mean is that lagers require more yeast cells to do the job. 
Online retailers sell liquid lager yeast for about $6.25 if you want it. 
Dry lager yeast will work well, and need only be re-hydrated.  The yeast mfr makes it so that it has all the stored energy it needs, if it is properly hydrated.  Making a starter from dry yeast expends that stored energy and a dry yeast package already has twice the yeast cell count as a liquid, so growing cells by way of a starter is not necessary with dry yeast. 
Always re-hydrate dry yeast if you want the maximum cell count. 

The "sprinkle on wort" method works, but some cells die or under-perform because the high sugar content of the wort affects the cell membrane. 
 
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