Yeast starter

I made a yeast starter tonight for my (honey) IPA, which I will henceforth call State College PA. Get it? (Later I'm going to make a dark beer this spring, called Dark Holler Stout, which Chris will appreciate.) On to the pictures.

I really think the key to a good batch of beer is to have a huge yeast culture to start fermentation right away. It's easy to make a yeast starter; it's basically like making a tiny amount of beer, but without hops. The first step is to boil (for about 5 minutes) 1/2 cup of malt extract in 20 oz of water.

Observe my excellent stirring technique.

The second step is to cool the wort to about 85 degrees. The wire sticking out of the pot is a kitchen thermometer - very useful.

It takes about 10 minutes for the wort to cool to 85 degrees.



Next we add the yeast packet.

Now we add the wort. Did you ever notice that the radio station in Madison is named after WORT?

It will be really bubbling in about two hours.