I started using a yeast starter for the last two beers. So far I haven't shielded it from the light. Should I?
The first is currently aging - the second was pitched yesterday.
I'm thinking light is generally considered bad for beer - hence the use of opaque buckets and amber bottles.
Topic light yeast-starters homebrew
Category Mac
Really depends if you use hops or not. I always put a few pellets in for thier antimictobial properties.
And it depends when and how you pitch your starters.
Light + hops would be bad If your starter is just to reduce lag time ie pitching it at high krausen. While this is common it's mostly of those that have never tasted a starter and ignorantly add all those bad phenols and esters to thier beer when pitching.
Your starter has only one real purpose, to grow healthy yeast in an amount for a proper pitch. Yeast health is the most important thing. You shouldn't care what phenols and esters it makes. Then you decant and only pitch the yeast not the starter liquid. In this case light doesn't matter.
According to Beer Advocate,
This is when the beer has been exposed to ultraviolet light for a period of time. Hop-derived molecules, called isohumulones, are basically ripped apart.
So unless you're adding hops to your starter (which you shouldn't be), light shouldn't be much an issue.
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