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If you harvest the yeast when it's most healthy and active, which is great if you're going to repitch it (into similar/identical wort) right away, it should be expected to kick of quickly and perform very well. However the 'super' things about top cropping is that you don't have to wait longer...

I'd not want to pitch them directly into a full batch of beer, however there is no reason you can't make a starter to check and proof the yeast, viability and characteristics.

Except that - as 944play pointed out - some of the information is not correct (especially in regard to Winsor being Fullers strain, Wy1969, nothing flocculates like Wy1969). If you're going to compare things that broadly let's say: US05 is comparable to Wy1056, WLP001, Wy1272, WLP051...

It sure sounds like it's the yeast that has overflowed. But rather than your second question, the better question is, how much yeast did it spill compared to what is left in the flask? Usually, even with top cropping yeasts that overflow the starter flask (or fermenter), the vast majority of...

Hey JohnMc, most likely pH could be an issue (and I'd suggest you know much more about it than I do) but we're dealing with a Home Brew type situation, and what looks like a pressure cooker, not something concocted in a biomedical science lab. So as far as the OP is concerned, simply double...

Various references I found say to use 1.5% by weight of agar - you are using less than half that, which is probably why it's not setting well. The powdered agar-agar I get from the Asian supermarket works fine at 1.5-1.6% and I've never had any problems, so I'd suggest you double the amount of...

I think the stir-plate behavior really depends on the yeast. This is the most recent starter I made, and the yeast (active top cropping English Ale yeast) is crawling out of the top of the flask: The plastic tub is not as pretty as marubozo's stir plate, but it's needed with the yeast I was...

That's the way I do it. I pour about 5ml of wort ontop of the slant and gently scrape off the yeast with an inoculation loop, if I do it well there is no yeast left on the slant so it's discarded. However, some people use an inoculation loop to select only a small amount of yeast from the...

Have someone make you yeast slants. Freshly inoculated yeast needs a few days (at warm/room temp) to grow on the wort/agar jelly, so if they are shipped as soon as they are made the shipping time is also the incubation time and when the yeast arrives its freshly grown and ready to use.

What does the starter taste like? If it tastes fine it should be OK to use - assuming you have enough viable yeast cells to pitch. Are you sure the colour is not due to the yeast strain and/or extract you have used (have you used both before)?

In general anything in your starter will grow (much better) in your wort, so I know I would not risk a suspect starter in a batch of beer, it simply not worth it. If you are happy to have the 'mold' grow in your beer, use it, if not tip it!

Overnight would usually be adequate, it depends on the yeast and how pedantic you want to get about all of it settling. If you can give it 24hours, if not as long as possible.

Home made stir-plates can often be a bit hit-and-miss and are hard to control. It's usually a balance between speed of the fan, the magnets and distance between the magnets and stir-bar. Without a speed controller it will be just that much more difficult to control and fine-tune. You may like...

If you put the starter on the base of the freezer, its possible that the yeast actually froze even if all the liquid in the starter did not. As others have said, take a gravity reading to ensure there has been no activity before you assume the yeast is dead, if you're still at the same OG you'll...

If the yeast had been kept covered (as it should have been in the first place) it most likely would have been OK to use. When you visit the LHBS to get more yeast make sure you grab a few extra packets to always keep in the fridge for these kinds of emergencies. ;)