Is my yeast starter ready? (Pic)

First timer...I boiled 2 cups of water with about 2/3c of LME for about 12 mins, chilled to about 65 or 70 degrees, then added my Wyeast propagator package that was fully expanded...shook it all up really well and here is the the jar after about 24 hours...seems to be plenty of yeast settling on the bottom, is it ready to make some beer? Any suggestions? Many thanks!

Depends on the original gravity of the beer you are making. What is the OG?

I didn't take a gravity reading (didn't think I had enough in there to do it and have no idea what I'm doing so didn't want to risk anything). According to the recipe it says the SG is 1.042 - 1.046 and the FG is 1.010 - 1.012. Does that help?

did you ever get a krauzen or other signs of activity in it? i'd say after 24 hours, you should be fine to pitch, and it looks like you've got a good layer of yeast on the bottom, which i doubt was all from the activator. all of my starters have been easily good to go after 18-20 hours max.

Nope, didn't see any activity at all, which is making me question it. The positive is the amount of yeast of the bottom from my propagator, which only had 30 billion cells in it. Just by looking I'd say there's about 4-5 times more yeast in there than what I poured from my packet but again I'm new so that's why I'm asking you pros.

Perno said:

I didn't take a gravity reading (didn't think I had enough in there to do it and have no idea what I'm doing so didn't want to risk anything). According to the recipe it says the SG is 1.042 - 1.046 and the FG is 1.010 - 1.012. Does that help?

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If your wort has an original gravity (starting gravity) of 1.046 then you should have enough yeast to pitch. You have a few options. You can pitch the entire starter in or you can refrigerate it for a few days and let the yeast settle on the bottom in a solid sediment layer. Then decant most of the liquid from the top and allow to warm to room temperature and pitch. Easy as that.

schweaty said:

...Then decant most of the liquid from the top and allow to warm to room temperature and pitch. Easy as that.

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By that you mean discard the clear liquid from the top and pitch yeast/trub from the bottom?

Perno said:

First timer...I boiled 2 cups of water with about 2/3c of LME for about 12 mins, chilled to about 65 or 70 degrees, then added my Wyeast propagator package that was fully expanded...shook it all up really well and here is the the jar after about 24 hours...seems to be plenty of yeast settling on the bottom, is it ready to make some beer? Any suggestions? Many thanks!

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looks good to me... do you shake/swirl it often??? it's not too late to start....

swirl right up to pitching time...

Ahhh that's the other thing, I shook and swirled for the first 24 hours but thought it would be useless now...so definitely shake it up til pitching time? Good to know.

24-48 hours is all you will need with a starter. As schweaty said, just throw it in the fridge overnight and then decant the liquid off the top. Leave a little bit in the bottom to help swirl up the yeast that is at the bottom and just let it sit out at room temp until you're ready to brew. I usually throw mine in the night before I brew and then pull it out as soon as I wake up in the AM before brewing. This gives the starter enough time to slowly warm back up to room temps. Then, I just give the starter one last swirl right before I throw it in to ensure all the yeast from the bottom is out of the starter.

yes.. meeting character requirement

osagedr said:

By that you mean discard the clear liquid from the top and pitch yeast/trub from the bottom?

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schweaty said:

If your wort has an original gravity (starting gravity) of 1.046 then you should have enough yeast to pitch. You have a few options. You can pitch the entire starter in or you can refrigerate it for a few days and let the yeast settle on the bottom in a solid sediment layer. Then decant most of the liquid from the top and allow to warm to room temperature and pitch. Easy as that.

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I used 2/3c of the LME that came with the recipe kit I ordered, so decanting would get rid of some of the 6lbs of LME that came with the kit, that would be a bad thing, right? You're saying if I just made it from some DME I had laying around then I would decant, right?

Perno said:

I used 2/3c of the LME that came with the recipe kit I ordered, so decanting would get rid of some of the 6lbs of LME that came with the kit, that would be a bad thing, right? You're saying if I just made it from some DME I had laying around then I would decant, right?

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It's really your choice. With that size starter I don't think it really matters, you can swirl and pitch the whole thing without worry and you won't lose the extract that you borrowed from the recipe. I usually use some extra DME myself, but usually still pitch the whole thing (unless it's a large stepped up starter).