Yeast Starter

I've been using liquid yeast for most every batch. Lately liquid yeast packs have not been fresh, shipping has always been a problem and my beer is not as crisp as before. There has been many advances in quality and selection of dry yeast so I gave dry yeast a try and found the results to be surprisingly good. 
Even though a yeast starter is not required when using dry yeast will it do harm to hydrate the yeast for 30 min or so then add the hydrated yeast solution to a standard DME mix and put on the stirplate overnite.  Is there a downside to doing this ? I'm trying to prevent under pitching.

Absolutely no problem at all doing it that way, John Mac (BTW I used to love watching your tantrums on the tennis court). As long as you follow good sanitary practices, and you don't use a DME:water mix too strong, you can do it exactly as you would a liquid yeast. That includes stepping it up if you wish to make bigger yeast counts for larger volumes of worts.

Cheers

Thanks for replying ANTIPHILE. I was hoping for that response. Tried a starter using the std 100 gram DME/liter water giving me an SG 1.035, hydrated the yeast, a little nutrient, some O2 and the yeast seemed happy and took off within 4 hours. Faster than liquid yeast. Bottom line is how will the beer taste. We'll see.

BTW If there ever is a vote for chairman of the "Whiners Hall of Fame" it would be McEnroe unanimously.

Thank you for the headsup on the yeast starter.
I want to try it with the guidance of a yeast calculator.
I am using BS's and Mr. Mallty's calculators.
The same input gives roughly the same output.
My chalanges are?
1) Activating the stir plate options, does not change any of the values for a dry yeast starter on both calculators.
2) Mr. Malty only give the mass of the yeast. No DME weight, no volume of water to hydrate the yeast
3) BS gives the water volume to hydrate but not the DMV weight.
4) None say the time the starter should be on the stir plate.
There are no guidance for a Dry Yeast Starter, "paint by numbers" to do it right.
Doing a brew "blindly", waiting for 6 weeks to find out I screwed up is a bad option.
I am using the Grainfarther brewing system, 23l total volume. OG = 1.079 Imperial Lager.
Please advise or link me up with an answer.
Kind regards.

I use Fermentis brand dry yeast without a starter and my beers come out pretty good. Their US-05 makes a crisp ale. High attenuation.  I've been doing this for close to fifteen years and I could count on one hand the times I've used liquid yeast.

I do economize a bit though. I often get several batches out of the same packet by brewing and racking on the same day, and reserving some sludge from the primary to pitch into the next batch.

The first one that I sprinkle the yeast onto takes a few days to get going, but the ones seeded with sludge take off almost immediately.

I don't see why a good starter wouldn't do what the sludge does.

Is it really necessary though? I guess that depends on who you ask. I say no, but I respect those who disagree.

  I usually make a starter with  dry yeast when using a new pack. Just to prove it's alive, and increase cell count. It's been years since I just tossed dry yeast into a batch, can't stand waiting 3 days for activity. Once after 4 days I had to repitch another package and don't want that to happen again. That and now that I brew 12 gallons on package won't be enough. I like reusing yeast sludge as well. I make a starter with some of it to ensure its still alive, and get high krausen ; if it's been in the fridge for a while.

Regarding Oliver's concerns: I use 4 oz's sterilized water cooled to 90 F / 11 gram pack dry yeast to hydrate.  Also a mixture of 100 grams and 1 liter water will give you a solution @ 1.035. I prefer ales and don't brew lagers therefore I don't have any experience re: starters to share with you but I'm sure other readers do.
I don't know if there is "magic time" in using stir plates. I, like twhitaker, use a starter to make sure the yeast is alive, has the necessary O2, nutrients and gets a head start to ward off unwanted growth of who knows what and speed up the fermentation process. 
One thing I do say about Mr Malty and BS yeast calculators is that I find them to be a little light re:  yeast requirements. Under pitching can cause many problems especially having insufficient yeast to do a 'diacetal' clean up at the end of fermentation. Being a lager brewer, you know how important that is. Far less problems with slightly over pitching than under pitching 

Hi,

A couple recipes I've ran into lately, will say 4 packages or two packages of various liquid yeasts.
Can I substitute this with  1 package 1 or 2 litre starter?

If you go into the starter option in BS it will give you the options for a starter and how big a starter you will need from 1 pack of liquid yeast for the beer you are brewing . I have started making them slightly bigger than what BS says , Not by a great deal but I find it has been working better for me to do so.
Also you can use MR Malty to get your pitch rates which a lot of people do but I have found them much  the same .

I hope this helps