Yeast question, getting ready to brew tonight!

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lakedawgs

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HI,
Getting ready for my first brew with a buddy and I started my yeast yesterday. Wyeast English Ale smack pack. Smacked it, let the package expand and mixed with a wort starter (3oz DME with quart of water, boiled and cooled to 70 degrees).
Today, about 20 hours later, the starter looks like the pic. There are not as many bubbles as I would have thought and what is the white layer in the bottom?
Is this good to go?
Thanks,
Lakedawgs

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36413628@N07/5479873336/
 
It is really difficult to see what you have going on with that photo.

Starters usually reach high kreausen between 18-24 hours after pitching.

I have made starters that show little signs of activity, and have made starters that have volcanoed for hours before the kreausen fell.

Like this one :)
IMG_1436.JPG


Regardless, if your starter smells nice and yeasty-bready, then it is more than likely active, and ready for action.

Check out MrMalty.com for everything you need to know about starter preparation, the information is fantastic, he also provides a free pitch rate calculator.

Also, if you are without a stirplate, swirl your starter up every time you have a chance, the exchange of oxygen and co2 helps the yeast during their aerobic state since the yeast need oxygen to reproduce. I might be ranting off info you already know, but like I said from that pic it is really hard to see how much yeast you have in the bottom, either way if you have some activity, you beer will ferment, how quickly, and whether you are pitching the proper amount of yeast cells is hard to determine from the info you have given.
 
It is really difficult to see what you have going on with that photo.

Starters usually reach high kreausen between 18-24 hours after pitching.

I have made starters that show little signs of activity, and have made starters that have volcanoed for hours before the kreausen fell.

Like this one :)
IMG_1436.JPG


Regardless, if your starter smells nice and yeasty-bready, then it is more than likely active, and ready for action.

Check out MrMalty.com for everything you need to know about starter preparation, the information is fantastic, he also provides a free pitch rate calculator.

that's what my starters look like - messy :cross:
 
OK,
I'm thinking my starter is good, smells nice and yeasty-bready, but, next project, stir plate.
Lakedawgs
 
HI,
Getting ready for my first brew with a buddy and I started my yeast yesterday. Wyeast English Ale smack pack. Smacked it, let the package expand and mixed with a wort starter (3oz DME with quart of water, boiled and cooled to 70 degrees).
Today, about 20 hours later, the starter looks like the pic. There are not as many bubbles as I would have thought and what is the white layer in the bottom?
Is this good to go?
Thanks,
Lakedawgs

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36413628@N07/5479873336/

The white layer on the bottom is yeast. Your starter looks pretty similar to many of mine (very little obvious signs of fermentation, but with an increasing amount of yeast at the bottom if I switch off the stir plate and let it settle). In about 20 years of making starters, I've only had a couple that looked like Schnitzengiggle's picture. It does help a lot if you can give the starter a swirl every time you think of it, and helps even more if you use a stir plate.

-a.
 
All is well, fermenter is bubbling away nicely right now. I checked when I let the dogs out this morning at 6:00am. So it took 9.5hrs or less to get going. I'm please with that.
Lakedawgs
 
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