Live Yeast Starter - advice please

[Muttley]

A couple of days ago I started making my first live yeast starter from a Wyeast Activator Smackpack. I smacked my pack as instructed and within 3 hours it had swollen nicely - quicker than I'd expected from reading the other people's posts. I left it at room temperature overnight and then poured it into a pre-boiled and cooled solution of dark spraymalt (200g in 2L water). I then left it at room temperature (~20 degrees) and waited for things to happen. After 24 hours there was very little evidence of fermentation so I put my demi-john in the airing cupboard at about 28 degrees. After a few hours fermentation had started so I transferred it back to the kitchen at 20 degrees (it's best for fermentations to be at 20 degrees, isn't it?). Since then it has continued to ferment slowly with small bubbles rising regularly, but it hasn't created a thick foamy head as in a normal 23L fermentation from dried yeast. Is this normal in a starter, and if so why does it look so different from a normal fermentation? Also have I done things correctly? Any advice much appreciated. Many thanks.

[mysterio]

Yes, that is quite normal, I've never had a proper yeast head on a starter. To answer your question, I have no idea why that happens

You didn't really need to put the starter in the airing cupboard, although it won't have done any harm.

At least you know you have a good healthy amount of yeast to pitch now.

[Muttley]

Mysterio- many thanks for your advice. It's good to have some reassurance that all is OK.

[paulcav]

Its also reasonable to expect a 2 litre starter to have fermented out within 24 hours, especially with good healthy yeast.

Paul

[hoppingMad]

Starters usually don't look, taste or smell like beer. They are generally oxidised, have no hop flavour, and can often fool you into thinking somethings wrong. After you've done a few you will relax a bit more and trust your insticts.
Once fermented out, I chill my starters, check that sediment is there indicating good yeast growth, then decant off the spent wort leaving only just enough to swirl and re-suspend all the sediment. I always taste the spent wort to make sure there's no infection. It doesn't taste anything like beer but as long as it doesn't actually taste like its off, it isn't.
Good on you for trying your first Wyeast, you won't regret it.
Hopp.

[Muttley]

Hopp - thanks for the information. I was really expecting something like a normal fermentation with a good frothy head, so it's very reassuring to hear that a starter culture behaves quite differently to a normal brew. I'm just about to start my mash now so hopefully by this time tomorrow I'll have a good fermentation going which should produce a decent Old Peculiar clone.

Thanks again for all your help - you can always rely on Jim's Beer Kit to come up with the answers!