This was my first attempt at making a starter for a batch of Irish Red I'm going to brew today. Yesterday I made a 2L starter with approx. 2 cups of DME, boiled for 15 minutes, cooled in an ice bath in the sink, transferred to a glass container once it was under 80 deg. I pitched a Wyeast pack of 1084 Irish Ale with a manufacture date of Mar 28. I covered the top with a sanitized piece of alum foil and left it sit.
I unfortunately wasn't around much yesterday so the first chance I had to check on it was about 10 hours later. That also means I didn't have the ability to shake it much to re-introduce oxygen. I didn't see any signs of krausen or fermentation at all after 10 hours. Is it possible that I just completely missed it in that time period? I know Palmer says that you might miss it since these small starters can be very active. If I check the gravity after 24 hours will that be a good way to confirm the yeast was working? Should it be at 1.010 ish?
I unfortunately wasn't around much yesterday so the first chance I had to check on it was about 10 hours later. That also means I didn't have the ability to shake it much to re-introduce oxygen. I didn't see any signs of krausen or fermentation at all after 10 hours. Is it possible that I just completely missed it in that time period? I know Palmer says that you might miss it since these small starters can be very active. If I check the gravity after 24 hours will that be a good way to confirm the yeast was working? Should it be at 1.010 ish?