Starter 4 day lag?

So i harvested some yeast from some Heady Topper recently and i used way more wort than i should have.. 32oz at 1.040 with 3 cans of dregs.

No activity until day 4. now there is about an inch layer of foam, smells fine (like fermenting beer), with a small layer of yeast on the bottom.

Has anyone had used starters that have lagged like this successfully?

Usually my starters ferment out within 2 days max. I am kind of worried and i don't want to ruin a 5 gallon batch.

How should i proceed? is there any way to see / tell if my started has been compromised? or should i make a 1 gallon test batch and use the yeast for that?

Thanks in advance!

A slow starting fermentation does not equal a ruined beer. What are your specific concerns?

I'm having trouble deciphering your procedure, can you be more specific? What do you mean you used more wort than you should have? In your starter?

Do you have/use a stirplate or no? If not, then that's the reason right there. I've used 10+ month old yeast, that took ~24 hours to get going, on a stirplate. Stepped up a couple times (three starter steps total) and I'm at my target cell count. Second and additional steps always take off FAST too. Like going within an hour or two, and done in maybe 12 hours (tops).

He uses a pretty clean yeast profile so you could also add another starter of any Chico or Sandiego super yeast type strain.

No stir plate + 10 hour work days so I haven't been around much to rouse the yeast

So Monday night used 32 oz of 1.040 wort and pitches the yeast from 3 cans of topper. (Did some research after and it looks like I should have started with 12oz of wort)

I shook every 30 minutes while I was home (6 - 11pm) and twice in the morning (5 and 5:30).


Didn't notice fermentation until tonight.

The question is.. has anyone uses a starter successfully that has taken this long ?

Had it happen this week, made a starter on Sunday and it didn't do anything till today......with a stir plate. I've had a day or 2 lag with fine results, make your beer and pitch what you have and you should be fine.