Yeast on stir plate-how long do you keep it going?

[Beer-lord]

I'm kind of continuing a thread from the old board and am curious about those that use stir plates on how long you let it go. Lately, I've been going 24-30 hours then cold crashing. I'm beginning to think that decanting is giving me better beer though I never thought it made much difference. I would think that 1 liter of clean wort into 5-6 gallons of beer wouldn't make a noticeable difference but I'm starting to change my thoughts on that. It may be my continuing OCDness on making my FG but when I've done this or used dry yeast, it's gotten to where I need it and I've made some notes to back me up.

So how long do you let it roll and do you decant or pitch it all?

[russki]

I let mine go until it ferments out (visible activity subsides and the color lightens up considerably), typically 24-48 hrs, then cold crash and decant. If you are not pitching at high krausen, just let it finish to ensure maximum yeast growth.

[packerduf]

I normally go 24 hours on the stir-plate, then pitch it all. Not saying it's the right way, but it's the way I do it.

[mashani]

I tend to pitch at high krausen right off the plate - or as close to it as I can get timing wise. I do not decant, I just pitch it and RDWHAHB. I've done it both ways and can't tell the difference in outcome, so do whatever you want is my theory. I don't worry about all the oxygen in the starter wort, it's going to just get used to extend the growth phase in the beer as long as you have an otherwise nutritious wort, and any remaining driven off during fermentation like any oxygen you add after pitching IMHO.

[FrozenInTime]

Lately what I've been doing is starting it 24 hours before I brew. While the wort is cooling I turn off the plate and let it sit. Usually 20-25 minutes or so, I'm ready to pour the yeast into the wort, I pour slowly to get the liquid out, leaving the trub that has settled on the bottom in the flask. I get plenty of yeast to ferment the wort. I aerate the heck out of the wort with oxygen first.

[Kealia]

I tend to pitch at high krausen right off the plate - or as close to it as I can get timing wise. I do not decant, I just pitch it and RDWHAHB. I've done it both ways and can't tell the difference in outcome, so do whatever you want is my theory. I don't worry about all the oxygen in the starter wort, it's going to just get used to extend the growth phase in the beer as long as you have an otherwise nutritious wort, and any remaining driven off during fermentation like any oxygen you add after pitching IMHO.

When I pitch at high krausen, this is what I do. But whether I decant or pitch at high krausen depends on how much pre-planning I've done with my starter.
If I have the time and foresight to plan ahead, I usually go 24-30 hours, then cold crash, decant and pitch. Generally I'm still doing 2.5G batches so I do like to limit the extra wort I pitch if I can.

[russki]

Just a cautionary note - if you're using an older package of liquid yeast, it may take 24-36 hours just to get going. I always make my starters well ahead of brewing (Monday or Tuesday for Friday night), just to allow them to fully ferment out, and cold crash. An extra day or two in the fridge won't hurt it.

[Kealia]

Just a cautionary note - if you're using an older package of liquid yeast, it may take 24-36 hours just to get going. I always make my starters well ahead of brewing (Monday or Tuesday for Friday night), just to allow them to fully ferment out, and cold crash. An extra day or two in the fridge won't hurt it.

That's a very good call out russki.

[Beer-lord]

That's pretty much what I do for a great majority of my starters in my most recent beers. I'm trying to start a mini yeast bank with 3 or 4 yeast strains that are all clean and ready for starters.

[zorak1066]

by the time I get settled into a new place and brewing again, the dry yeast ive been keeping in my fridge will be kind of old. I was wondering if rehydrating and spinning it for a day or so on a stir plate would help or harm things? rehydrate first with water, then pitch into the starter...

I would think they would behave just like liquid yeast...