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# Add 100 grams of DME to around 900 mL of water and heat pasteurize/boil as you would normally do for a starter. This should make 1.040 SG (10°P) starter wort.
# Cool the DME wort to room the desired temperature(see step 4), and add 100 mL of pasteurized apple juice, 20 grams of chalk (CaCO3), and half a teaspoon of yeast nutrients. The chalk won't dissolve into solution, so don't worry about it. <ref name="sam_starter">[https://eurekabrewing.wordpress.com/2015/05/18/evaluate-starter-media-to-propagate-lactobacillus-sp/ Evaluate starter media to propagate Lactobacillus sp., Eureka Brewing Blog, by Samuel Aeschlimann.]</ref>. Boiling the apple juice will destroy some of its nutrients, and since it is pasteurized boiling it isn't necessary <ref>[https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/1152787381416141/?comment_id=1153930734635139&reply_comment_id=1153949097966636&total_comments=4&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R6%22%7D Conversation with Samuel Aeschlimann and Jason Pappas on MTF about the effects of boiling apple juice. 09/24/2015.]</ref>.
# Best practice is that starters should not be aerated, although there may be an exception to this for ''L. brevis'' <ref name="brevis_aeration"></ref>. Some people prefer to stir their starter with an airlock in order to keep the bacteria in suspension, others do not use a stir plate and keep the starter still. One advantage to not using a stir plate at least until the brewer is more familiar with their culture is that the top of the starter will begin to clear when the starter is done if the starter was kept still (see step 4).
# The starter should be held at the temperature best suited for the culture as shown in the [[Lactobacillus#Culture_Charts|Culture Charts]].