Pour entire starter?

I typically make a starter 24 hours before I am going to pitch. Typically it's about 1800 mL. I've always just poured the entire starter into the carboy. Lately I've been wondering how big of an impact that has on my brews. My batches are all 5 gallons. I use extra light DME in my starters, usually about 180 grams which makes about a 1.040 starter.

I feel like not pitching the entire starter will be wasting a lot yeast that is still in suspension. It still is pretty active after 24 hours.

So should I do a starter 48 hours in advanced and let the yeast flocculate and just pitch the slurry, or just pitch the slurry after only 24 hours, or just keep pitching the whole darn thing regardless?

Advice would be great, thanks,

5 gallons = 18.9 liters so your starter volume is approx 10% of your batch volume, yes I would pour the beer and just pitch the sediment.

I only do 1L starters but if I was doing 2L starters I wouldn't want to pour the whole thing in there.

you will get all kinds of answers to this and they will all probably work fine. i've dumped the whole thing, decanted the beer and pitched the slurry and pitched straight from the smack pack. i sometimes brew, chill the wort and use some for a starter to pitch the next day, i pitch the whole thing in that case.

I would think your best bet is to make a starter a few days ahead of time and refrigerate it to settle the yeast out, decant the liquid on top and pitch the slurry. I have pitch the whole thing in the past without any off flavors, but, depending on the size of the starter and the lightness of the beer, off flavors can become a problem. I have always had quick activity with the refrigeration/decantation method, so I always try to go that route.

If I have time I let the starter ferment out and then stick it in the fridge to settle...then decant and just pitch the yeast. Most of the time I end up pitching the entire 1-2-3 liter starter and have never been able to tell the difference in my 6 gal brews.

i let it settle and decant the beer, only pitch slurry if im making a light beer, otherwise i pitch the whole thing