To decant or not to decant...

[mjs483]

So I was a day late in making my starter. I had planned on doing it Wednesday and chilling it Friday night so I could decant most of the liquid and pitch on Saturday. Well I didn't get around to making the starter until last night (Thursday night) and I still plan on brewing on Saturday morning. Probably pitching around 12pm.

It is a 2 liter starter. Not sure if I should just leave it alone and pitch the entire starter which would mean starter sat for about 36 - 40 hours (probably fine). Or if I should chill it tonight and decant in the morning, which would have given the starter 24 hours before being chilled. Any suggestions?

Usually in this situation I'd just pitch the whole thing but since I'm making one of the lighter styles (Blonde Ale), I'm not sure if pitching the whole thing will affect the flavor at all. By the way the yeast is good ol' Wyeast 1056 (American Ale).

 

[BuzzCraft]

what's the status of the starter? if it's fermented out....chill and decant.

 

[mjs483]

I won't know until I go home and check later today, but if there is a white layer of yeast on the bottom does that mean it is done? Or does all the krausen foam have to disappear for it to be completely fermented out? Hrmm...looks like this is the root of my problem/question- I guess I'm not sure how to tell if my starter is fully fermented out or not...

 

[BuzzCraft]

i'm assuming you're not on a stir plate here. the krausen should subside when fermentation is done and, eventually, depending on how flocculant the strain is, you'll see the yeast dropping out and accumulating on the bottom. if the foam has subsided, i would personally swirl it for a while to drive off the CO2 and stick it in the fridge.

after the starter clears, decant before it warms back up again. if you let it warm up and there's still fermentables to be had in the starter wort/beer, the yeast might go back at it and stir things up again.