Is Mr. Malty dependable?

Ingredients
1

I’m brewing my first lager this weekend and wanted to run Mr. Malty’s recommendations by the forum readers to make sure I’m building the best starter I can.

Here’s the info:
Beer:              Oktoberfest
O.G.:              1.058
Size:              5 gallons
Stirplate:          Yes - 2l E flask

Mr. Malty says a 1.8 liter starter with two smack packs (Wyeast Oktoberfest 2633)using a stir plate.  I’m assuming that this is the day before brewing or in the 12 to 18 hrs before pitch.

Does this look like it’ll work?  I have a friend that I brew with who, for some reason, is always nervous about over pitching and always builds dinky little starters.  But based on the Mr. Malty I need 404 or so billion cells and the Wyeast packs should have 80-90 billion viable cells so I don’t think I’m at risk of building too big a starter especially for a lager.

Thanks

2

My understanding is that MrMalty is very reliable. IMO it is better to overpitch a little than underpitch, particularly in a lager type beer.

3

+1
When i do a starter (which is all the time) I make up a gallon of wort and pitch only 1 pack or vial. if your vessel isnt that big, you can do 2l. on the stir plate, and when thats at high kreusen pitch that onto the remaining 1 gallon. When that’s done let it settle out and pitchonly the cake (~200ml.). The 3.8l. you throw away doesnt belong in your beer; that’s just starter refuse IMO.

4

The main thing is that you want to pitch enough yeast for the beer you are making. 400 billion is right on the money for a 1.058 lager. I have found Mr Malty to be great for the suggested starter size. Jamil did alright when he made that program :wink:

5

And on A LOT of other things. Theres a reason that guy is as decorated as he is, and is running a successful production brewery like he is, and pitching the right amount of yeast, as he will tell you, is the most important reason. Im sure he uses his own program so that speaks volumes!

6

Cheers to that. JZ is always preaching the importance of temperature control and pitching enough healthy yeast. That is the gospel my friends. Preach on, Brother Jamil!

7

You  need a large amount of yeast to make a quality lager. You can take mrmalty to the bank on that.

My lagers have become much better using the pitch rate recommended. Don’t let your friend talk you out of making a big starter.

8

Thanks everybody!

9
10

Jamil’s brewery is Heretic Brewing Company.  I’ve had three of their beers, the Twin, the Cousin, and the porter.  All very tasty.

11

Friends don’t let friends make wimpy starters!

12

You can also play with the “Growth Factor” at the bottom if you prefer a larger starter with less smack packs.

In your case, increasing the growth factor would yield 1 pack with ~ 4L starter (just guessing). If you can make a starter that size, then you save yourself a yeast pack.

13

I find http://www.yeastcalc.com/ to be way more useful than MrMalty’s calc, mostly because it has built-in stepped-starter support.

14

…and bookmarked! TYVM!

As much as I love me some Mr Malty, I like that with yeastcalc I just type in the date on my smackpack and I get everything down to how much DME to use all on one page with no further drunken calculations required by me  :wink: