Did My Starter Not Work???

[tomwhit19]

So I did my first yeast starter for an IPA I am planning on brewing today. Let it sit for 48 hours swirling it occasionally since i dont have a stir plate, put it in the fridge to crash cool it overnight, checked on it this morning and this is what it looks like. Is this okay? Im not sure it doesnt have a very prominent "yeast cake" on the bottom. Im just wondering if this is okay? should I take a gravity reading? or should I just go get 3 packs of yeast for brewing today?

 

[Revvy]

looks like plenty of yeast to me.

 

[tomwhit19]

okay i just wanted to throw it up on here before either trying it or panicking and going to get more yeast. It had me wondering just from some how to videos and articles Ive been going through they have all have very prominent layers of yeast on the bottom of their flasks. Thanks

 

[eadavis80]

Looks good - happy brewing. I normally cold crash my starters for at least 36 hours though to make sure most (if not all) of the yeast has settled out. However, most of the time I just make a starter (w/o a stir plate - just shake) the day before brew day and pitch the whole thing. I fear that by cold crashing for less than 1 day there is still a fair amount of yeast in suspension and if I decant I've lost some of the yeast I tried to make.

 

[brandonlovesbeer]

Why did you cold crash it?
Make the starter. Then while it's still active, throw it in the primary.

If you cold crash it, it will take longer to get going.

 

[eadavis80]

Many cold crash because they don't want starter wort in their beer, but the amount of starter wort in a small starter is negligible. I'm with you - most of the time, I just pitch the entire starter while it's actively fermenting, but sometimes I cold crash - just depends on my brewing schedule.