another starter question - (when is it ready?)

So I made my first starter yesterday. The metheod I used was that from the WIKI here. I boiled 1 pint of water, removed from heat, added 1/2 cup DME and stirred until dissolved, then boiled for 10-15 mins. I cooled it, put in a 2L flask and pitched the yeast (White Labs Clifornia Ale WP001). I put a bung and airlock in and let it sit at about 68-70 F. Today, it has a layer of yeast on the bottom, but i never saw it active, and there is ro ring or anything to show that it did. Is there a way to tell if its ready to use? Did I do something wrong? Thanks...

Starters are notorious for fermenting out quickly. Swirl it around again a few times and see if it bubbles a lot. If you're brewing tomorrow I'd just leave it as is, but if it's going to be a few days you can step the starter up some more.

When I am making starters with WLP I use half the yeast and save the rest for another batch. A starter is just a small batch of beer essentially.

Do the swirl see if its gassing, if not you have an issue. The yeast on the bottom might just be the vial settled out.

Do what those guys said. And when you're initially making the starter, you can more than likely boil in your flask, depending on what kind of glass it is.

EvilTOJ said:

but if it's going to be a few days you can step the starter up some more.

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how do you "step up" the starter?

Boil and cool additional DME+water, then add to your starter. This will keep the yeast multiplying in their growth phase.