I always make a starter before every brew day. By far the best decision I've made as a home brewer. Took my beer from good to "holy cow where did you get this? I need to find this brewery."
I make my starters with guidelines of a yeast calculator, in an Erlenmeyer flask, on a my homemade stir plate for 24 hours. Thanks to brulosphy and other posts on this forum, I also harvest my yeast from a starter.
I've noticed, however, that sometimes my starter has a hearty Krausen and sometimes just a little foam. What's the deal with this? Am I getting the same amount of propagation?
Here is a photo from a starter I made Monday just 4 hours after pitching: View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1424869136.079273.jpg
I make my starters with guidelines of a yeast calculator, in an Erlenmeyer flask, on a my homemade stir plate for 24 hours. Thanks to brulosphy and other posts on this forum, I also harvest my yeast from a starter.
I've noticed, however, that sometimes my starter has a hearty Krausen and sometimes just a little foam. What's the deal with this? Am I getting the same amount of propagation?
Here is a photo from a starter I made Monday just 4 hours after pitching: View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1424869136.079273.jpg