Does the krausen on a yeast starter have lots of yeast in it?

[msa8967]

I have a yeast starter that has been going for 16 hours and has a 1-2 in krausen. Does the krausen on a yeast starter have lots of yeast in it and if so should I try to swirl the krausen remains on the sides of my flask back into the starter once the krausen falls?

 

[ronjonacron]

I swirl and shake the crap out of my starters, so i think youll be good to go, you want as much oxygen in the starter as you can. I mean, i shake it like it owes me money.

 

[msa8967]

I usually shake the starters like crazy prior to pitching yeast. I wonder if doing this 20 hours later can oxidize the starter and affect yeast profiles.

 

[flars]

Keep shaking and swirling your starters until a foamy head is no longer produced. When it no longer foams the yeast has finished its work. Oxidation is not a concern. With a stir plate oxygen is introduced continuously so the yeast can work.

 

[msa8967]

thanks...

 

[two_one_seven]

If you do feel concerned about fermentation effects of the yeast, you can cold crash and decant most of fermentation products off the yeast slurry. In most cases it isn't an issue. I have a saison yeast going right now I will pitch all of it into my wort....I want any funkiness that the yeast can give me in the beer.

Ale yeast in general are what they call "top cropping". So there will be a huge number of viable yeast cells in the krasuen if this is the case. Traditional English brewerys selected for top cropping yeast because it made it easy to harvest yeast from beers in open fermenters. So get everything in if it is an ale that you want a nice "character" to. If it is somehting you want cleaner and you are fermenting low in the temp range then cold crash and decant.

 

[eastoak]

the beer in a starter might be oxidized but that has no effect on the yeast which is what you are after, i think. if i'm going to pitch the entire starter i set my stir plate on the lowest setting until i see activity then i turn it off and let the starter go on it's own.

 

[msa8967]

I have had these starters on stir plates for more than 22 hours. I didn't know to turn the stir plates off once the krausen shows up.

 

[two_one_seven]

I think it is a personal choice.....and if you plan to cold crash. You can push the krausen longer and generate more yeast cells if you leave it running. Otherwise it is no differnt than shaking occasinally.

 

[msa8967]

I cold crash all of my starters. I was wondering if I was missing out on good yeast cells that stick to the side after the krausen falls back into the solution.