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Yeast starter temperature

Ribbs

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I'm attempting my first lager brew and will need to do a yeast starter for Wyeast's 2124 Bohemian Lager yeast.  I will do a two stage starter following BS3's recommended numbers and refrigerate the starter between stages and before pitching on brew day.  I'm curious about an ideal temperature to strive for during the yeast starter's active phase. 

Both John Palmer and Wyeast's website mention 70 degrees (without regard to style of yeast) for a starter.  Is that an acceptable temperature for both ale and lager yeasts?  Wyeast's website lists a temperature range of 45 to 68 degrees for this strain - so would 70 degrees be unhealthy?  Should the active phase of the starter ideally be held to the same temperature as the main batch fermentation - in the case of the recipe I'm following, 50 degrees?
 
I agree with both. Seventy degrees works well for both lager and ale yeasts.
 
If you are planning on pitching the whole starter into your beer, then you might care about the temperature of the starter fermentation. If you are going to decant most of the liquid and then pitch just the yeast, then it doesn't really matter what that discarded liquid tastes like. Room temperature will cause most yeasts to grow quickly, but might cause some undesirable flavor development. I try to use as little of the liquid from my starters as possible. I retain just enough to be able to swirl up the yeast and pour it out into my nice, tasty wort.

--GF
 
I would second GF's comments.  If you are cold crashing your starter, decant as much of the starter wort out as you dare.  This will limit the dilution of your recipe with wort/beer which does not match the flavor profile you targeted.  It is also a learning experience to taste just a bit of the starter wort from different yeast strains and that will give you an idea of what you can get away with for carry over of the starter material.
 
Thank you all.  I'm understanding then that 70 degrees is a good temperature for starters and any off tastes created by the elevated temperature gets poured off.  I think I was hung up on the published temperature range of the yeast - 45 to 68 degrees, but as GF points out, it's a range that limits off flavors and yeast can happily multiply above that range with no ill effect.  I'll definitely give the starter wort a taste!
 
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