I missed high krausen. My starter really took off, it appears to have peaked last night. Obviously I brewed anyway, I’m not going to let a little krausen get in my way. But it got me to thinking, what’s better, pre or post high krausen?
IMO, post. But that’s an opinion, not a scientific fact.
Considering that SOP used to be stirplate then cold crash and then decant, you should be fine. The vitality/SNS starter really is the gold standard, though. Timing it is not that tough, as you can make the starter, brew your batch and then just wait a bit to pitch as the starter peaks. It can be near high Krausen within a couple hours of completing the brewing of the main batch. Some folks rack their main batch once it settles out, anyway, before pitching. If you can time your next batch brewing with completion of fermentation of an earlier batch (within a few days), you can rack the finished beer and harvest fresh yeast for immediate repitching into the ready wort.
Cheers!