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Brewing an Oktoberfest sometime in next couple weeks. Have a vial of white labs Oktoberfest yeast from Dave. Im going to have to step it up 3 times probably, to get a good big pitch for 10 gal of lager. I haven't done a lager starter before - what temperature should it ferment at? Cool ale temps (like 15-16°)? Closer to lager temps (10-12°)? Or warm temps (~20°)? When stepping up a starter, should I just add the extra wort to the flask instead of cold crashing and decanting (if there is room)?

Thanks for any wisdom you can impart!

You can do lager starters around 20 degrees or so maybe even a bit higher. Although they can't ferment at temperatures as high as ale strains, they will grow faster at higher temps.

If you add extra wort to the flask you might want to think about wort dilution and alcohol production. Normally I cold crash and decant, but you don't have to if your careful.

Thanks! So room temp in my basement should be fine. Don't need to run an extension cord for my stir plate into my ferm chamber.

How large of a starter will you be making? Have you thought about making 2 instead?

I think your questions were answered, but in case you want a bit more info, I wrote up something on lager starters a couple of years ago, if you're bored and need a read...

http://meekbrewingco.blogspot.ca/2012/0 ... rters.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Rob - I could make two, but I only have one stir plate (that I haven't quite finished yet). Haven't really looked in detail at how big a starter i will need. I was thinking amaybe 1.5 litre then a second step up to 3 or so, and see what a calculator says - crash, decant, and add another couple litres if it needs more.

Barley - thanks, I will take a look tonight!

Liam, I think you're best to just go directly to a 3 litre starter if that would be your end goal. I don't think you're going to get much growth from 1.5L to 3L. If you're woried about the viability of the yeast you're better off starting with something smaller (300-500ml) and stepping up to 3L. The reason for this is that going from 1.5L to 3L you'll get a lot of growth going to the 1.5L but you don't get the same growth curve from 1.5L to 3L, you're just making more beer. Not sure what the calculator will say but this is what I gather from reading the Yeast book. I haven't gotten all the way through it though so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt.

Also, if you're doing 10 gallons of lager you'll proably want a fucking huge starter, like 6 - 8L. Another reason to make two "smaller" ones I guess.