Trappist starter - darker yeast on bottom

[istuntmanmike]

So I've made a 2 step starter for a tripel, and noticed this darker layer at the very bottom of my flask. Is it dead yeast? According to yeastcalc this 2nd step should have put me right about at the number of cells I need, if it's dead yeast should I do another step to assure I have enough? The vials I used had just passed the best-by date (and so I got them for free ), and I didn't notice the darker layer on the first step, it was all the creamy color.

I'm sure I'm probably just worried about nothing, but I thought I'd see what others though before proceeding to brew this tripel

 

[istuntmanmike]

Another question..... If I'm supposed to have, say, 1.8L of starter, would it be of any harm to add the wort, thoroughly mix up the yeast sediment and separate into 2 containers? The volume is less, of course, but so is the amount of yeast since it was evenly separated, so would it negatively affect the rate of growth as if I used the smaller volume?

 

[istuntmanmike]

Thanks for the help guys.