Yet more yeast starter questions

I just made my first yeast starter yesterday (Monday) using 1 qt of water and 1 cup DME, boiled 15 mins, cooled and poured into a half gallon growler. Pitched a swollen Wyeast smack pack at about 2:00 pm. As of about a half hour ago, it has a very small krausen (1/16" foam) and maybe 1/4" yeast cake at the bottom. I want to brew tomorrow (Wednesday) night.

I did read prior threads on this topic (that's where I found the basic recipe and instructions), but I still have a few questions:

As it seems like its not done fermenting, do I need to pitch the entire quart? If so, how much will this effect the taste of my batch (5 gal.)? If not, how do I get the yeast cake off the bottom of the growler - do I swirl a part of the starter liquid into the cake to make it pourable?

Thanks in advance for any help!

I pitch the whole thing and have never had an issue.

You could let is settle and pour off most of the liquid, but I'm always afraid of losing my loyal yeast soldiers that are going to do battle on my behalf

I made a starter half that size and let it go for three days before pitching. Almost all the yeast had flocculated, so I shook it like a madman to jar it all loose before pitching into my primary. It was bubbling strong ten hours later when I came back home. My understanding is that shaking the starter to get all the yeast suspended again is the way to go.

As for it affecting the taste, it depends on the type of ale you're making. I was making an oatmeal stout, so one measly pint of starter isn't going to do much. What I've read is that if you're building up a really big starter, like two quarts or more, you'll want to chill it before pitching, and pour off the liquid on top, only pitching the slurry on the bottom. I think one quart will probably okay to pitch.

Yes, shake it up to get all the yeast off of the bottom and pitch the entire contents.

The only recommendation I have is to reduce your boiling time to only 5 miins. Boiling for 15 mins probably made your mini-wort really dark.

good advice here, shake it up and pitch it all. you just get an extra quart of beer, no worries.

Hallelujah - I'm a convert!!

Pitched at 10:30 pm. Noticeable foam formations by 1:30 am. 1" krausen at 6:00 am. High Krausen (foam passing merrily through the blow-off tube) at 10:00 am.

I see many, many starters in my future!

Thanks all and Happy Thanksgiving!!