The last 3 all grain batches I've done have been using US-05 (IPAs) or 04 (porter) with yeast starters, which I'm relatively new to. Not sure what I'm doing wrong but the IPAs taste so similar despite very different malt/hop profiles-there is almost a Belgian, yeast flavor quality to them that overtakes the brightness that should be there in the style of IPAs I'm brewing. Before I started doing starters this characteristic never showed up. My porter (the 3rd brew in the aforementioned since utilizing starters) was spot on what I expected flavor wise, but I'm wondering if the malt bill there is such that it would overtake the yeasty taste no matter what.
I'm not sure what might be wrong in my process, as I try to be very careful with sanitization post boil/pre-ferment. Do I need to let the yeast separate 1/2 hour before pitching and get rid of the "liquid-y part" at the top and only pitch the "cake"? Can anyone help?