I've found these recommendations on the sugar wash section of this site. They seem contradictory, I was wondering if somebody could clarify a bit for me?
If using dried yeast, it can be helped along by letting it soak in about 1C of warm (24 °C) water for about an hour beforehand. Use a high alcohol yeast such as for champagne ... If the pack you're using is one of those small ones, it will pay to grow it up to a suitable size before using it.
If buying that much dry yeast is a problem, you can make a starter. Make a small "mini batch" of your mash - using the same ingredients at the same concentration (no less than 500ml no more than 2,000ml for a 5 gal/20liter batch) and put it into a sanitized glass flask, bottle, jug, etc. Do this one or two days before you plan to make the main (5 gal/20L) batch. Add the small (typically 5 gram) packet of yeast to the starter, and when it is at high kraeusen, add it to the main batch.
You will know when you have pitched the right amount of yeast because the high kraeusen stage (the tall foamy cap) will have formed in four hours or less.
Okay so say I have 2X5g packets of dried ec-1118 yeast for a 25L batch. I want to grow it a bit. So how much mash.. one recommends 100mls, the other says 500-2000mls!?? 25-25 celsius grand. But for how long.. One says a couple days until the high krausen, then another says the high-krausen happens after 4 hours.
So simply.. how much and for how long?
The reason for a starter is to do away with lag time(the time it takes for the yeast to get going)the starter should be about 3% to 5% of the total volume of wash.
19 to 30 ounces is about right for 5 gallons I would lean toward the high end. bout 1-1/2 ta 2 pints
Even just dumping the dry yeats into the fermenter is ok. If you want the yeast to multiply a bit, wait until it is activated in your wash, and then add your nutrients and shake or stirr the hell out of it. This will give the yest the oxygen it needs for the yeast to mutiply.
Many people have different methods, and they must work ok or they wouldn't post them. Try a few different ways, and see what works best for you.