It is very easy to make a yeast starter, just remember to start in time!
You do'nt need any fancy equipment to make a yeast starter, a clean glass bottle and some aluminium foil is enough!
Start with boiling 500ml/½ qt of water with 120ml/ ½ cup of dry malt extract, this will result in an OG(original gravity) of ca 1,040.
Boil this for ca 10 minutes and let it cool down to 27 C or 80 F. Adding some yeast nutrients is always good but not necessary!
Pour all of the liquid, even the sediment, into a clean glass jar or bottle. Add the yeast to the wort and stir well with a sanitized spoon. Aerate the wort by whisking or by shaking the bottle hard!
Put a plastic wrap, some aluminium foil or an airlock over the opening and let it sit at room temperature for 24-48h until the liquid clears and a nice layer of sediment settles on the bottom.
Your starter is ready for pitching! If you need even more active yeast cells you can repeat this several times and build up a substantial amount of yeast for your brew!
There is a very handy yeast pitching rate calculator on the Mr. Malty page if you need to check how much yeast or starter you will need for a particular brew!
Tomorrow I will review the "Rusty Rex" brew pad from Brewie!