What ratio of DME to water do you use for your starter?

Ingredients
1

One guy I talk to a lot that makes great brews uses 10g DME per 10mL, and this site recommends 1g/10mL.  Just curious what everyone uses, and/or their opinions on these recommendations?

2

100g mixed with water to yield 1L (1000ml). So, 1g/10ml

3

I’m definitely in the latter camp!!!
https://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_makingastarter.cfm

4

That’s like 2lbs per gallon of water. I bet he does 1g to 10ml and just wasn’t thinking when he said 10.

5

I would assume that it was just an error in his statement.  1g/10mL is about 3/4 of a dry cup per liter of water.  10g/10mL is going to be about 7.5 dry cups in a liter.  That’s a really high gravity starter.

6

I made a bunch of 5% yesterday  5g DME 100ml Water plus pinch of nutrients.

7

I use 75g DME per 1L of water, so I guess that works out to be .75g per 1mL.  If I recall correctly, that puts me in the 1.030ish range.

8

Thanks guys, sounds like he meant to say 1g instead of 10. I’ll stick to that.

9

75g/1L=75g/1000ml=.075g/ml

10

Math in public, gets me every time, meant to write .75g per 10mL.

11

LOL

It took me a while for it to sink in, but I like S Cerv’s way of communicating it by percentage. 5% means 5g per 100ml. Less confusion in the calcation that way. Pretty easy to remember that % means per hundred. Then you just times by 4 to ballpark the gravity. 5g per 100ml = 5% = 5ºP = 1.020 So, 7.5% = 7.5ºP = 1.030 and 10% = 10ºP = 1.040

12

.75 oz./cup for 1.035

13

I do around 3.5oz per quart of water, usually, which is basically the same as 100g per liter.

14

I do 50g in 500ml. The ratio is 1:10 but percentage is actually 9% (50g/550g = 0.091).

If you’re trying to coax an old yeast sample back into life, lower gravity might help as it’s less of an osmotic shock. However, less malt extract means less yeast cells in the starter as all the yeast biomass comes from the malt.

15

Only if you are concerned with total count though. If you are merely trying to get the yeast into log phase and “some” growth, its less of a concern. Which is how I’ve been using my starters. Also eliminates a need to count, which has always made me scratch my head. How many homebrewers fuss over the very optimal way to increase cell count, yet they have never counted…

16

Pitching rate seems such an inexact science I don’t normally bother with it. I only measure yeast a bit more carefully if I’m making bread or lager.

17

Yup, since switching to pitching active starters I get more reliable results. Works for me

18

I always run off a 1/2 gallon jug from the mash tun at the end of the sparge. It is usually around 1.015. I freeze this and thaw out a few days before the next brew day. I boil this for 20 mins with some added DME to get around 1.040 to my starter 24 hrs prior to pitching. I pitch it all at high krausen…to my sanitized yeast harvesting ball jar (1/4 qt) and my fermenter…just thought I’d share

19

Pitching rates, and cell counts have a good deal of margin of error. Conservatively you can expect ±15% accuracy, but may vary more than that. I usually pitch slightly more than Homebrew Dad's Online Yeast Starter Calculator suggests as I’d rather pitch a bit more and ensure a good healthy fermentation.