First time making a starter...is mine good?

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Kidder

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I made a starter on Thursday night using 1/2 cup DME and 1 qt water. I used WLP002 English Ale. Boiled for 15 minutes, cooled to 70F, pitched the vial. Placed a piece of sanitized foil over the top of the growler and shook like crazy. At first I put an airlock on it filled with One Step solution and some sanitizer splashed into it when I removed the airlock. I replaced the airlock with the foil. That night I put it in my basement which is in the low 60's, probably should've kept it upstairs so that what I did the next morning. So yesterday I came home at lunch and checked it out and there was no krausen or foam on top. Keep in mind that every time I see it I give a good shake. After work yesterday I came home and looked at it and it had a slight layer of foam on top but not much, maybe a 1/4" of foam? Shook again, checked a few hours later, no foam but it looks like there's yeast sediment on the bottom. Is this indeed yeast sediment? Did I completely miss the fermentation? Should I just shake the whole thing and pitch into my wort when ready?

I just don't think it fermented as violently as I expected. There approx 1/4-1/2" of sediment on the bottom of the 1/2 gallon growler. I'm thinkign of getting a packet of Nottingham just in case.

Thoughts?
 
You can ferment starters quite warm - 70s or higher are no problem. You don't usually see much of a krausen ring in a starter, and they can ferment out quite quickly, so you may just have missed the action. The yeast sediment should be a creamy, off-white layer.

Next time, I would suggest making a larger starter. With just 1-qt of water, you are achieving very little propagation unless the yeast in the vial was seriously impaired. I usually do 1.8 to 2.5-liter starters. Also, a little yeast nutrient is always a good idea in a starter - just don't overdo it.
 
That's what the sediment looks like. I thought maybe it could be DME that has dropped out of solution as well. Hopefully the sanitizer solution didn't kill the yeast. I made it stronger than usual. If it can kill bacteria I'm sure it can kill yeast.

Oh well, I'll give it a shot tomorrow.
 

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