Fementation question

I have a Irish stout I made on Saturday afternoon and used the yeast starter that I made on Wednesday. By 1am Saturday I had a nice krausen and the airlock was bubbling like mad. Monday morning before work I head down and there is no activity in the airlock and the krausen dropped completely.

Has anyone else ever had this happen where it seems you have a very active ferment and then within 24 hours it's dead? It's a first for me where I have bubbling in the airlock for several days before the krausen drops.

Thanks

Yes, I've had it happen when I pitched on a cake or otherwise used a good healthy amount of yeast. I'd still leave it sit your normal time and don't rush it just because it finished quickly.

Great, thanks. I'm still getting some slight activity, some bubbling coming up in the carboy itself but nothing like it was doing all day Sunday.

This is the second batch I ever used a starter versus a smack pack so I was wondering if that had something to do with it.

It means you made a good starter...be proud. And yes, that was the difference - very little lag time before fermentation. Should result in a cleaner taste and nice complete fermentation.