Making a Yeast Starter

Planning my next brewing session, (this'll be my 3rd brew) I am kicking it up a notch or two each time, adding more advanced techniques in search of process improvement and of course; better tasting beer. This time it includes starting with my own recipe from scratch, grinding my own specialty grains, and using liquid yeast for the first time - I plan on making a yeast starter.

Looking at several sources including Palmer's book, I see many possibilities including making the starter and letting it finish and settle, then pitching, or making the starter and pitching at high krausen, or making the starter and waiting for it to settle, then adding more wort to get it going again thus further increasing the cell count... the list goes on. This of course got my gears turning.

My question is this; can I make my starter, let it finish out and settle, add more wort the next day and let 'er rip again, and settle out, and add even more wort on day 3 for a third round of cell creation? Do I just keep adding a small amount of new wort to the settled starter or do I chill it for a day, pour some of the spent wort off and add fresh wort, or..

I'm using 1 vial of WLP001 and I'd like to get up to around 200 Billion cells for my 5-gallon batch. Is there some set ratio of Liters of wort to Billions of cells? Tips/Tricks?

See yeastcalc.com for calculating stepped starters.

Simple enough, thanks Tom.

Say, what are your (and anyone else's) thoughts on yeast nutrients and anti-foaming powders?  These are suggested in the "How to make (and step) a starter" tutorial on the yeastcalc.com site, and I was wondering if anyone had any opinions regarding these methods.

I ordered a stir plate and would like to know if these agents would also be a good addition. Are they really necessary or can I get by just fine without them?

You typically need 1million cells per ml per degree plato. More or less depending on what your brewing. No need to step up for that size of starter.

If you use a stir plate it will increase the cell count dramatically and you will need less volume for your starter.

No need for anti foam. When your boiling just keep a spray bottle of star san around and spray the erlenmeyer flask (the outside duh) with it when its starts over boiling and it will die right down. Ive only had one yeast ever overfoam on a starter and that was wlp530 (belgian) I believe. I think it was due to a high ferm temp. Also I didnt have a stir plate at the time. The stir plate seems to keep the foam down.

I put about a quarter teaspoon yeast nutrient into all of my starters. They say its not needed when using dme but I do it anyway. Goodluck.

You might be making it more difficult than it really is. Best recommendation I have to offer is to use a stir plate to help maximize cell count and provide you with the opportunity to start splitting batches of yeast to save $. Also invest in a 2000 ML Erlenmeyer flask. 1 cup DME to 940 ML H2O.

Did my first AG brew yesterday and forgot the step of doing anything other than taking my WLP001 out and letting it warm up before pitching.  I'm hoping all this will do is slow down the process. Thoughts?
thanks,

It should be fine. I used to do this when I 1st started brewing. You will just have a long lag time and the fermentation profile will be fruitier/murkier.

thanks for the feedback.  Things are slow but working and in the end it will still taste like beer.