Stir Plates

Yeast Starter Kits and Accessories Too!

One of the secrets to improving the flavour of your beer is to make a yeast starter. Although not really necessary, most homebrewers find it easy to make good yeast starters and do so all the time. A yeast starter is basically a small batch of homebrew made to grow more yeast. The purpose of a yeast starter is to grow healthy yeast cells that will aid in the fermentation of the wort to create the final product.

Without the yeast starter, you may not be able to get enough viable yeast to fully ferment your beer. It will also help activate the yeast strain that has been sitting inside your fridge or cupboard for a long time. Lastly, it is a great way to proof your yeast making, to ensure that most of them are alive before using them.

Yeast starters are made using liquid yeast cultures. If you are using dried yeast packs, there is no need to make a yeast culture as they simply grow once you rehydrate them with water (however many homebrewers make yeast starters with them as well). When making a yeast culture, you need to determine the type and amount of beer that you are making. Remember that higher gravity beers require bigger starters. For instance, if you are brewing beer with a starting gravity of 1.065+, you need a 1-litre starter to ferment five gallons of beer (this is a guideline only, always follow the instructions that came with your yeast or recipe)

When making a starter, you need common equipment like flasks and stir plates. Here at Ontario Beer Kegs, we have a wide variety of selection of equipment used in making yeast starters that includes magnetic bars, Erlenmeyer flasks and stir plates. Without this equipment or our yeast starter kit, you will end up stirring the entire yeast starter manually.