WTexan

Recipes 

I'm trying my first yeast starter from my first attempt from some harvested yeast. Is the foam on top normal?

WhiteEagle1

Recipes 

Yeah man....remember to swirl it around every once in a while.....

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duboman

Recipes 

Yes, the foam is normal, just like krausen in the beer. It almost looks like it's done, how long has been gong? Most starters will finish in 18-24 hours, then you can cold crash, decant and pitch

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WTexan

Recipes 

It's only been going for about 2 hours or so. Do I still need to swirl it around if its on a stir plate? What do you mean by cold crashing and decant?

WTexan

Recipes 

It's only been going for about 2 hours. How do I tell when it's done? What do you mean by cold crash and decant?

hypergolic

Recipes 

No you don't need to swirl it if it is on a stir plate.

Cold Crash: Put flask in fridge after 12 - 16 hours on the stir plate. The yeast will fall to the bottom and separate from the wort.

Decant: Pour off most of the wort before pitching. Because you cold crashed this is pretty easy to do as the yeast is all at the bottom. Just take it slow so you don't put the yeast back in suspension.

AndrewD

Recipes 

If it's on a stir plate, don't bother swirling it. Cold Crash and decant means to put it in the fridge for long enough (overnight +/-) for most of the yeast to settle out so that you can pour or decant the fermented starter wort off of the yeast. Not everyone does this, particularly if the starter has been going for 24 hours as opposed to several days. 2 hours is probably a little early to use, depending on what your starter goals are. I definitely wouldn't worry about the cold crash/decanting if you are planning on using it within a few hours of starting it, but using a starter that soon somewhat diminishes the purpose. That is unless you were doing the starter just to check yeast viability.

WTexan

Recipes 

How do I tell when the starter is finished?

AndrewD

Recipes 

Check my post above. For more elaborate information, tell us what your goal was for doing the starter.

WTexan

Recipes 

What am I looking for in checking the yeast viability? So if I'm understanding you correctly, I will put the starter in the refrigerator overnight and pore off the wort and leaving as much of the trube as possible in the flask.