My california common is ready to be bottled any time. This is my first beer using a yeast starter. I took a little sample tonight and it was very good. It’s been dry hopping for the last week and that has added some great hop aroma. It seems to have a nice clean taste, which I’d like to attribute to using a starter. I’d never actually had an Anchor Steam before I tried this recipe, so I didn’t know if I’d like it or not. Anyway, I’m really looking forward to getting it bottled and trying some that’s cold and carbonated.

I’ve been reading a little on the web about yeast starters and I’m amazed by the variety in information out there. A lot of the information recommended using Erlenmeyer flasks and stir plates - I’m sure that’s probably the “right” way to do it, but it seems like overkill for the average homebrewer. My process seemed to work ok.

I added about a half pound of dried malt extract to 2.5 quarts of water and boiled it for 15 minutes. I added a pinch of hops for good measure. I cooled the whole thing in an ice bath and then I poured into a gallon jug. I used a normal stopper and airlock. After about 48 hours it was bubbling along pretty nicely - I added the whole 2 quarts to my cooled wort. It started fermenting in about 8-10 hours, as opposed to 24-36 hours like it has lately.

One little mistake I made was topping my primary fermenter off to a full 5 gallons before I added my starter. That wasn’t a problem until I went to rack into the secondary and I had more liquid than I could fit in. Oops.

Otherwise the process worked really well and I’m going to make it a regular part of my brewing.

This is a great reference on uncomplicated yeast starters from Main Street Homebrew Supply.