I made my first yeast starter last night using 1pt of water, 1 cup of DME, and wyeast 1388 belgian strong ale. 3 1/2 hrs before pitching I activated my smack pack, yet it barely inflated by pitching time. My research tells me this happens often and is ok. So I shook my mini-wort well and pitched yeast then covered with foil. I have no stir plate so this morning I went to shake it again which caused a few inches of foam to appear, I assume from co2 coming out of solution. I saw no krausen ring around my growler but there is a yeast cake at the bottom of my starter. Could it have fermented out already? If so wouldn't there be a krausen ring? Or is it behaving normally? I'm just curious about the yeast cake at the bottom and want to make sure it'll be ready for my 1.080 beer this saturday.