Thanks for clarifying. So, assuming an initial saturation, whether it be 8ppm from air or more with pure O2, the difference in cell count between a stirred and stagnant starter is not significant, or is it significant and due to something other than O2? Wyeast seems to say stirring makes more (but not that much more) but doesn't say why. The yeast book implies it makes a chunk more, and I think the MB Raines text says it can make a phenomenal difference.
It's been a few years since I made a lager. My general approach was to make a liter or two to get the yeast going, and pitch the whole starter into another 2gal starter (was generally making a 16.5-17gal batch of 1.060 lager). The second stage was in a 3gal carboy with no way to utilize a stir bar. (I would have been using a stir plate/bar for the initial liter) I thought I could make up for the no-stir by leaving the O2 tubing and stone in the wort for the first couple of hours - under a big foil cap of course. I'd come by every 20 min and give the wort another 20s blast two or three times. Hard to measure volume by looking at a layer on the bottom of a carboy, but there seemed to be quite a bit more yeast compared to the times when I'd do the 2gal with only one initial blast of O2. I probably should have measured the solids once decanting the beer, but I never did.
Thanks for linking the paper too.
