When is a stirplate starter at "high krausen" for restarting stalled fermentation?

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bigbeergeek

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I've got a 2nd stage starter crash cooled at the moment. The latest step was 2 quarts @ 1.035. It fermented for about 24 hrs before getting chilled (again). My question: I'm going to decant the spent starter wort and add a quart or two of 1.040 wort to the room temp slurry... how long should I run this bad boy on the stirplate before I dump it into the fermentor? I was thinking maybe 4-6 hrs, is there any info on what is "ideal?" Yeast strain is WLP500 for a dark strong stalled at 1.025.
 
If it was fermin for 24 hrs on a stir plate, whether chilly or not, and this was the second step already you should have a nice little pile of cells there to work with. IMO I wouldn't even bother with the extra spep(s) its just a waste of good sugar. However, how do you know when high krausen is achieved ?, you learn your strain and watch it like a hawk. You will know when the yeast begin activity because the top of the culture will change. Either getting more frothy or thicker or just dif will due for now. More importantly than knowing high krausen is to know when activity begins and when it ends. However, high krausen is still high krausen. Even on a stir plate, if you give the yeast what they need, they will still puff up and make a frothy head on top of the starter that signals high krausen, but you don't really need high krausen IMO to accopmplish your goal. You just need healthy cells that will go to work which I think you already have. again IMO.

Hope this helps,

Shaggy

Back to your question here.......I think you can go ahead and pitch that bad boy. Don't even bother adding more starter wort. You've gone through pleanty already. The viable yeast cells are there you just need to get em in the beer before they use up their reserves.
 
BBL Brewer: I agree. I'd estimate that there is a good 8-10 oz of yeast cake on the bottom of my 1 gallon starter jug which is probably enough to wring a few more points out of my gravity. However, I see this 2nd yeast addition as my final shot at lowering the gravity in the pursuit of a delightfully dry Belgian Dark Strong. Plus, I was planning on saving a portion of the slurry in a mason jar topped off with boiled, cooled water. I'm not concerned with the ~$1.00 investment of DME. I want a mountain of yeast, and I'd prefer to pitch it in as active a state as possible.
 
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