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I was thinking it may also be related to how active the starter is stirred. My smaller starters get stirred much more vigorously than the larger 2L ones, so maybe the yeast has more chance to ferment/kräusen if they are not stirred quite so much.

The 'right way' is whatever works for you and your procedures, and lets you make beer that tastes as good as it can for you. :) I use a starter to grow yeast, hence I ferment them warm and on a stir plate, I usually use left over wort from previous brews, so if I pitched the entire starter into...

I don't know about you, but I don't force my 'friends' to go on orgy for a few days, so they each produce a bunch of babies, before shoving them in the fridge so they all go to sleep. After that I don't feed my 'friends' an ideal mixture of food, oxygen and nutrients so they work like little...

Several times I've noticed Revvy say (as per the quote below) that he virtually never sees any kräusen or 'visible activity' in his yeast starters. Obviously there is no right or wrong answer, a starter is to grow yeast and the amount of healthy viable and happy yeast you get at the end of the...

Edit: I'll make a new thread instead of hijacking this one. ;)

My Beersmith logs indicate the following for the last few times I've used Wy1968: OG 1.055 FG 1.014 OG 1.047 FG 1.014 OG 1.051 FG 1.012 OG 1.041 FG 1.003 (All were AG except the last which was a GB kit with sugar etc)

I have drilled rubber stoppers for mine, but find using cling wrap and a rubber band is easier and just as good.

I'd chill it to settle the yeast anyway, then decant the spent beer and pitch only the yeast slurry.

Long term storage of yeast needs to not only keep the yeast viable (which is what most information here and elsewhere focuses on) but also ensure the yeast does not mutate and change. Colder temperatures mean less cell mutation, change and genetic drift, if you don't have -80C, then a standard...

Because dry yeast (like liquid yeast) is (even after drying/packaging) a living organism, so the cooler fridge temperatures will help slow the yeast's metabolism to help keep it viable for longer. Drying yeast helps it survive storage for longer, but without food/oxygen/etc it's still slowly...

I think you'd need some sort of specific controlled scientific study to really answer that question. Some have said that you'd suffer up to 50% loss in viability, however even then, you are still pitching a huge quantity of yeast that the losses may not be noticeable unless it was in a...

No fight, I presume Revvy will agree, just as I agreed with him. :)

The article is great, however since we can reculture from (virtually) one viable cell, many storage methods are much the same in terms of being viable after years. However, preventing yeast mutation (which is not really mentioned in that article) is possibly more important than the viability...

That's not the question! (Because you are right, I've never needed to know if my starter is viable because I step them up, watch/check them, and don't freeze them ... besides I have a refractometer so the sample required is 2 drops.). However, the OP asked "what are some signs that the yeast is...

Me: Rehydrate dry yeast. Splash/swoosh/swirl (aggressively until I get bored) the covered fermenter after adding rehydrated dry or liquid yeast.

It's not just cell growth that starters are about, you want to breed yeast that is healthy and best suited for the conditions that they will ferment your beer in. If lager yeast starters are too warm, you risk yeast mutations and adaptions to the 'hot' temps, and they may not ferment so well at...

I had a similar problem and I think you'll find that visual analysis of the plant/cones is not that much help. However the smell/aroma and taste of the two hop varieties should be very different and let you determine which is which easily enough. I learned to label mine will with permanent...

If you can't grasp the wiring diagram and are not comfortable playing with mains-electricity, it's not something you should consider doing yourself. Let an expert/electrician do it, or buy a controller than comes pre-wired.

It's always good to have dry yeast on hand just in case the liquid yeast or starter does not work as expected. Good on the shop for sending it to you when you place an order, however the pessimist in me just thinks that they have an over-supply of Notty and want to get rid of it. ;)

No, the idea behind a starter is to increase the yeast health and cell count, it can't (easily) do either if it's been refrigerated and forced into dormancy. Let the yeast ferment out, then put it in the fridge after that has finished (usually 1-3 days) to help settle the yeast, decant the spent...