Ok those of you that have been using a stirplate for a while how can you tell you have active yeast if they are constantly moving will it foam? I just got my home made stirplate going and am brewing a 3 gallon cider when the yeast is ready. Oh I put 600 mls of apple juice and a sprinkling of notingham in a 2000 ml flask. Been going about 2 hrs and no foam has gone from clear 2 milky on the outside hope this thing works.
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It's my understading that using dry yeast in a starter only serves to over stress the yeast, and as a result does more harm than good.
As far as activity goes, I have just done my first batch with a starter and I didn't really see anything going on in the flask while it was on the stir plate but I had airlock activity within a few hours of pitching the yeast.
I notice activity by some foam and increased trubidity. Every other day I tend to take a sample and taste it. If it doesn't taste sweet anymore, the yeast needs more food or you are done growing yeast. Turn off the stir plate and check how much yeast sediment you got.
