Shortest amount of time to cool and decant starter?

[slothorentropy]

Made a big starter last night (2l with Wyeast Belgian Strong). Hoping to pitch by about 9pm this eve. Is there any premium in trying to cool this thing and decant? How long should it cool for the yeast to fully flocculate?

Thanks, guys!

 

[nostalgia]

I think you're going to need at least overnight to get decent flocculation.

I think your best bet is to pitch the whole starter. I'm in the same boat - I put together a 4L starter for a 10 gallon batch two days ago. I'm planning to brew with it today and pitch the whole thing, since it's pretty much in the middle of fermentation now.

-Joe

 

[makomachine]

I've decanted and pitched in 9 hours on floculant yeast. If it hasn't separated completely, just decant the part that has and leave the middle layer that still has yeast in suspension.

 

[slothorentropy]

Sweet; I might try it, especially since I'm not likely to get started for a few hours yet. The starter is about 14 hrs old and bubbling like mad at this point; I'd imagine you don't wanna cool it until activity starts to slow?