Yeast starter looks kind of strange

I made a starter last night and when I woke up this morning it looked different than the other 4 or 5 I've made in the past. I'm used to seeing a somewhat homogeneous-looking, cream-colored flask of yeasty goodness whirling away on the stir plate (and that's what it looked like for the first couple of hours after I made it) but this morning I saw a somewhat clear, beer-ish liquid with clumps of stuff whirling about. I used Wyeast 1968 (London ESB Ale) and didn't bother smacking it because I was in a hurry, so I suppose there could be a problem with the yeast. I guess I'll still pitch it but I'm a little worried.

The yeast was a little clumpy when I pitched it into the flask. I didn't recall seeing that before but I figured it had something to do with not smacking the pack.

Am I worrying for nothing?

 

That sounds usual. Some of those British yeasts are a little different.

I made a starter with a Whitbread 1099 recently and it took a good 2 days for anything to happen with the starter.

 

If it's like the White labs 002, this is normal. Very flocculant stuff. It should be fine ( mine with the 002 worked perfectly).

 

Wyeast describes this as an "extremely flocculant" yeast. Wait to you get it in the carboy, THEN you will see some chunks flying around.

http://www.wyeastlab.com/hb_yeaststrain_detail.cfm?ID=22

 

I use 1968 a lot. It turns into "cottage cheese". RDWHAHB.

GT

 

Thanks for the info, everyone. I didn't realize that the physical appearance of different strains of yeast could be so different.