Starter question?

[MCH]

I'm 30 minutes into a 60 minute boil. I pitched a starter two days ago and I just went to check it. It has a nice krausen on it so it looks like I should have a fast fermentation.

Question: Do I shake the starter a little and pour all the contents in? Or do I decant the starter and pour all the liquid, leaving any sediment that may have formed on the bottom???

Thanks for the help in advance.

 

[Bytor1100]

Everyone has their own preference, but I decant most of the liquid off the top after the starter has sat for at least a day and has cleared. Then I swirl the remaining sediment around and mix it up nicely with the little bit of remaining liquid, and then pitch all of that into the fermenter.

 

[HairyDogBrewing]

If you decant now, you'll dump most of the best yeast cells.

To decant a large (2 qt) starter, ferment it completely and chill in the fridge
for 12 to 24 hours to get all the yeast to settle out.
Then decant most of the clear liquid, keeping a little.
Allow to warm up to wort temperature, swirl, and pitch.

 

[MCH]

Thanks Bytor. My wort is at 110 and dropping. Was planning on dumping everything if I didn't get an answer, but it sure is nice hearing that instead of "hoping" I was right.

 

[MCH]

Ending up decanting most of the liquid into a secondary jar. Swirled the remaining liquid around breaking up the sediment. Pitched it into my primary. Then followed with a short decant from the secondary liquid. I then emptied the secondary back into the original starter jar and placed it back up. Hoping to let it ferment out and then wash the remaining yeast for re-use.

 

[MCH]

Just an update. Woke up this morning with a steady bubbling going on.

I can literally see the krausen through the bucket.

The way its looking, I may be putting it in a secondary within a week's time.

 

[Blackhawkbrew]

Should a starter have a krausen on it? I did one earlier (haven't used it yet) and it had no krausen.

 

[beerthirty]

Should a starter have a krausen on it? I did one earlier (haven't used it yet) and it had no krausen.

It really depends on yeast strain and as I found out starter OG. the first few I made had high OG and I had to clean the counters several times. if you have your starter at 1.040 its pretty safe. If you are worried about it use foam control also.

 

[MCH]

My first few starters had low OG's and no krausen. This last one was around 1.058 and had a krausen within 24 hours. BTW--all of the starters were with the same yeast strain.