Is this a good yeast starter?

[sanigav7]

I have finally gotten around to making a yeast starter for a Wit I plan on brewing tonight. I made the starter yesterday and I just want to make sure this is what should be expected. (this is only my 2nd starter).

I have a 1000L flask (already, I know I need a 2000L going forward) and after boiling the wheat DME I had on hand, I had about 700mL of liquid...poured the yeast in and let it sit. It's been sitting for about 20 hours. It looks good from what I can see with the krausen on top...however there is no real "yeast cake" if you will. There is some yeast on the bottom, but not nearly what I expected.

Was I expecting too much? Think this is good to go? I don't want to risk 5 gallons on a weak/botched starter.

 

[LVBen]

You might still have a lot of yeast that is still in suspension (especially at high-krausen). Some people just let it sit longer until all of the yeast settles out, some people cold crash their starters to get the yeast to drop out, and some people pitch the whole thing at high krausen.

 

[BrewKnurd]

You might still have a lot of yeast that is still in suspension (especially at high-krausen). Some people just let it sit longer until all of the yeast settles out, some people cold crash their starters to get the yeast to drop out, and some people pitch the whole thing at high krausen.

And some people (like me) make a starter, stick it in the fridge when its done, and then on brew day, decant the liquid off, and then add back in a small amount of wort to get the yeast active again and then pitch that once the yeast are kicking.

 

[Coldies]

I start my yeast starters a few days before I brew and pop it in the fridge a day before the brew day and then pull it out, pour the liquid down the drain and add yeast to wort. With that being said you should be fine. Some sort of starter, even if its a yeast boost, is better than no starter.

 

[SwampassJ]

If you go the fridge route with cooling the wort then don't let the wort warm up before you pour off the liquid leaving behind the yeast cake. It makes it kick up easier.