jim's method - splitting the starter

[mb]

i made up a starter at the weekend following jim's method in the hints & tips. it looks like it's about fermented out now and i'm ready to split it up and refrigerate it. i have a question though, there is a 5mm layer of grey yeast sludge stuck to the bottom of the demijohn - swirling the wort around doesn't seem to shift it- are these dead cells that i can leave behind, or are they the live cells that i want? if it's the latter i'm going to have to give the demijohn a serious shake to shift them. the yeast is whitelabs WLP013.

as always, your help is much appreciated.

[mysterio]

Generally all that stuff is a combination of yeast and break material (from the malt extract). Since theres no easy way of separating the two you want to carry over as much of it as possible. Persistant swirling usually works, but don't worry too much about leaving a little behind. You could always splash some boiled and cooled water in if everything else has been kept sanitary. If all the liquid is still already in the demijohn, just give it a swirl until it shifts.

[Jim]

Yeah, what Mysterio said. I've just split a yeast starter up myself last weekend, and decided to swirl then let it settle for a bit (about 1/2 hr).

The yeast is Ringwood which seems to settle very quickly. There's much less of a deposit in each bottle this time - I'm hoping there's just as much live yeast, though!

[mb]

thanks- vigorous swirling shifted it. about to pitch some into a summer ale.