Yeast Starter vs. Double Pitch

[TyTanium]

Sorry to hijack, so you just take most/all of it off the top after it's knocked itself down a bit? Any chance you have a thread or know of one that describes your process? Or is it really that simple?

Yup! I should start a thread on it, that's a good idea. It really is so simple. Certain strains are better for it than others...the British & Belgian strains were selected I think to be good top-croppers, but I've had good results with others too.

Steps:

1) ~24 hours after fermentation there's usually a nasty, brown krausen; you don't want this
2) ~2-3 days after fermentation, the churning action of the yeast usually pulls the nasty krausen back down and a new, cleaner krausen forms...this is what you want. It should be creamy-colored and frothy, sticky, foamy with no visible solids, hop particles, brown goopy stuff, etc.
3) Sanitize a mason jar (inside and out) along with your skimming device.
4) Gently skim off the krausen into the mason jar...it'll be goopy and foamy, so work gently and carefully. Because it's so foamy it takes up a lot of space; I usually fill my container with foam before I deplete the krausen, so usually there's still a thin layer on top of the beer.
5) I usually add some water to the jar & shake to knock down the foam, then stick in the fridge; it usually settles to ~1/3 of the jar size. Also, vent the cap occasionally, especially if you were early in fermentation...let the CO2 escape!
6) More krausen usually reforms, but as time progresses I find it gets kind of dry & foamy, less sticky frothy; it's still good yeast, just harder to scrape off.
7) Keep in the fridge...reuse directly w/in a week or so; if longer just make a starter to wake them back up. Use Mr. Malty to estimate viability.

Edit: Obviously this is easy with a bucket or open fermenter....less so with a carboy