building a large starter

[smokeymcb]

@klickitat_jim

I do not understand a lot of the technical specifics, but after much thought I must agree. It makes sense that after you grow a bunch of yeast, then they go back to sleep, then wake them back up…
So, in the future, I will try growing 1l of 1.030, and pitch the whole liter at high krausen/no stir plate. What temp. do you recommend for a lager starter?

I want to know what Mark says about lager starter temp. But if he didn’t say, my thinking is that i would do my lager starter at lager temp, because i wouldnt be decanting. It is probably going to take a little longer to reach high krausen at 50 vs room temp. I also worry about having enough, so I would either pitch two 1L starters or two smack packs into 2L shaken not stired, for my 6 gallon batches.

Sixty degrees  Fahrenheit is way too cold for a starter.  That’s why your starters are taking forever to reach high krausen.  Starters should be incubated at 25C/77F (i.e., room temperature), regardless of yeast species (ale and lager yeast strains are different yeast species).  The goal of a starter is to increase yeast biomass, not make beer.