Starter question: less than 24 hours away from brewing...

I'm brewing a brown ale tomorrow morning, if I make a starter when I get home from work that gives it only about 16 hours instead of 24... should I even bother with a starter if I don't have a full 24 hours to devote to it? I'm assuming it wouldn't hurt anything, just wouldn't give the yeast the full time to get ready for it's main course.

 

I would.

 

I think I read in the book Yeast that typically maximum cell density is reached around 18 hours, so it's probably a good idea. Make sure you pitch the whole thing.

 

I was just gonna make a 1 liter starter and pitch the whole thing. I screwed up and got dark DME instead of light as suggested but 1 liter shouldn't change the SRM that much... I'm hoping.

 

yes I'm sure you will benefit from a 16 hour starter than not making one.

 

Don't think the dark dme will have any affect on your batch. That's one liter distributed into 20.

 

If your goal is to increase cell count you'll need at least 12-15 hours. If your goal is to wake the yeast up and get them active, you'll need 5-6 hours.

 

It's not a high gravity beer, I guess my goal is just to wake them up and be ready for action so it appears as though I'll be fine - thanks for the info everybody.