Yeast Starter Question

[ProfessorBrew]

I made my first yeast starter last night and everything went well in preparation for tonight's brew. My question is: when it's time to pitch, do I shake the entire starter? Or do I pour off some of the wort that's sitting on top of the yeast?

Thanks!

 

[Reelale]

I made my first yeast starter last night and everything went well in preparation for tonight's brew. My question is: when it's time to pitch, do I shake the entire starter? Or do I pour off some of the wort that's sitting on top of the yeast?

Thanks!

If you made it last night, you should pitch the entire starter. You would only decant off the wort after the majority of the yeast has settled out, usually after a cold crash of a day or so in the fridge.

 

[Calder]

Puritans say to cool and drop the yeast, decant and pitch the yeast only. I'll decant if the yeast has separated, but more often than not I have just pitched the whole starter and seen no issues.

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Puritans say to cool and drop the yeast, decant and pitch the yeast only. I'll decant if the yeast has separated, but more often than not I have just pitched the whole starter and seen no issues.

Usually I'm one of those puritans. I've always fermented my starters completely, cold crashed, decanted and pitched the slurry. But.... I'm brewing tomorrow, and I still haven't made my starter. Basically because I wanna see what, if any, the differences are if I pitch that starter tomorrow when it's alive and going strong. I like to see things for myself.
My guess, and this is based on what I've read here and other places, is that if anything I will have a shorter lag time and not much other difference from my usual method. Which is a great reason to pitch an active starter, if ya ask me.

But, to stop blabbering and answer the OP's question, since the starter's still active, pitch the whole thing.

 

[ResumeMan]

Puritans say to cool and drop the yeast, decant and pitch the yeast only. I'll decant if the yeast has separated, but more often than not I have just pitched the whole starter and seen no issues.

I don't know if it's "puritans" or even "purists." For me, it's mostly being "someone who doesn't want that oxidized crap in my beer." Particularly if its bigger than a liter, it just seems like a bunch of undesireable stuff to have in the beer. That's why I usually decant.

 

[Brew-boy]

Depends on the style and the volume of the starter. Like a 1000ml going into a dark ale no big deal. 2000ml going into a Helles very big deal. Most people rest the starter and decant.