Yeast Starter, not much activity, did I do it right?

[jeffceo24]

Hi! I'm a newbie to yeast starters... I made a yeast starter with Omega OYL-052 (Conan DIPA) on Saturday morning. The pouch was about 4 months from the packing date and I followed the instructions carefully. I made a starter around 1.060 with DME. I pitched around 70 degrees and it has been around 68 deg. since. There is only a thin ring of bubbles around the jar, I do see tiny CO2 bubbles rising and you will get some off gassing if you agitate it. I don't have a stir plate so I periodically agitate it by hand.

It doesn't seem like a whole lot of activity to me, haven't seen any actual krausen, so I am wondering if it is ok. Also there are some darker particles in the sediment. Not sure what those are. Please see the pictures and let me know what you think. Thanks!

 

[Derp]

Looks ok to me. Many/most of my starters don't have much krausen, and when they do it often doesn't stick around for one.

1.060 is a lot stronger than the starters I've done. I usually shoot for 1.036 - 1.040.

 

[jeffceo24]

Thanks Derp, I made it stronger to try to match the DIPA (Heady Topper Clone) I'll be making. Do you think I can use it on Friday and just keep it room temp until then?

 

[Derp]

I refrigerate mine to ensure that all of the yeast drops out. Then I decant most of the liquid, swirl it around to make sure it won't stay stuck to the bottom, and pitch.

 

[Calder]

Let the yeast drop and take a hydrometer reading. That will tell you if the yeast has done anything.