To decant your yeast starter, or just pour it all in?

[BrewerinBR]

The purpose of a starter is to grow yeast. You want to grow yeast so that you have sufficient yeast cell count going into your wort to produce the desired amount of fermentation. Starters also can help reduce lag time and can help in the prevention of stuck fermentations. The higher the original gravity of the wort the higher the cell count needs to be. More sugar needs more yeast.

OP: Under most conditions you will want to decant, which is what I prefer to do. However there are times when I do not for one reason or another. Such as timing or yeast blending and others. For your first try, I would do a starter several days ahead (like 4) and let the starter sit for at least 2 days on a stir plate if you have one. Then chill it for at least 24 hours and then pull it from fridge and decant and pitch, or you can decant and let it warm for 30 to 60 minutes then pitch, I do the later.
Good Luck on your next brew!

 

[Jay1]

I've done both with good results. For me it was the timing. When I make it a few days ahead of time, I.cold crash and decant. Last night I made a batch of beer and pitched the whole starter at high krausen. In less than six hours I had a bubbling air-lock.

 

[OvaTersley]

So if I'm understanding correctly, when you brew a beer with a lot of hops in it, it should be darn near impossible to get an infection, right? Since hops are antibacterial and antiseptic? Or am I just confused.

 

[metal850]

So if I'm understanding correctly, when you brew a beer with a lot of hops in it, it should be darn near impossible to get an infection, right? Since hops are antibacterial and antiseptic? Or am I just confused.

You won't get a bacterial infection but a wild yeast infection is possibly (but not likely)

 

[kingwood-kid]

There's plenty of bacteria that aren't bothered by hops. Hopping your starter is also no defense against Brett, wild yeasts and whatever yeast you had in that container before. As long as you sanitize and cover everything, you should be fine.