[scottcd]

So the LHBS sold me 7 monnth old yeast last week and my starter didnt take off. I went to a different store and bought 3 packd of WLP084 to have enough pitchable yeast... but this is the pure pitch kind. Do I need three packs or what is the correct amount to pitch? My lager is going to be OG 1.045 for a 5.5 gallon batch.

[blair.streit]

So the LHBS sold me 7 monnth old yeast last week and my starter didnt take off. I went to a different store and bought 3 packd of WLP084 to have enough pitchable yeast... but this is the pure pitch kind. Do I need three packs or what is the correct amount to pitch? My lager is going to be OG 1.045 for a 5.5 gallon batch.

With 3 packs into 5.5G of 1.045 wort you won't need much growth. If you just dumped the three packs into your wort and aerated it would probably work fine, but you would likely have a longer lag period than if you do some kind of minimal starter. In this case, the main purpose of the starter will just be to wake up your yeast and feed them a little sugar and O2 to decrease your lag time.

How are you doing your starter? If you've seen the shaken, not stirred method on here I've had good success with that on lagers and you can make the starter ~24 hours before you want to pitch and just pitch the whole thing at high krausen (since it won't be nasty tasting like my stir plate starters used to be).

[scottcd]

So the LHBS sold me 7 monnth old yeast last week and my starter didnt take off. I went to a different store and bought 3 packd of WLP084 to have enough pitchable yeast... but this is the pure pitch kind. Do I need three packs or what is the correct amount to pitch? My lager is going to be OG 1.045 for a 5.5 gallon batch.

With 3 packs into 5.5G of 1.045 wort you won't need much growth. If you just dumped the three packs into your wort and aerated it would probably work fine, but you would likely have a longer lag period than if you do some kind of minimal starter. In this case, the main purpose of the starter will just be to wake up your yeast and feed them a little sugar and O2 to decrease your lag time.

How are you doing your starter? If you've seen the shaken, not stirred method on here I've had good success with that on lagers and you can make the starter ~24 hours before you want to pitch and just pitch the whole thing at high krausen (since it won't be nasty tasting like my stir plate starters used to be).

I do my starters on a stir plate. I wasnt able to make it to the LHBS until about 18 hours before brew day. Im nearing the end of the boil now so I don't have enough time to do a starter. So 3 packs is good you would think?

[HoosierBrew]

Personally, I'd just pitch the 3 packs of Pure Pitch at this point. Given the 1.045 OG and the active nature of Pure Pitch, I think it'll work fine.

[blair.streit]

Yeah, it will work just fine. Just give it plenty of oxygen and expect a longer lag time than you usually get with a starter using the same yeast

[blair.streit]

Also have heard really good things about using PurePitch that way

[scottcd]

Awesome! Thanks everyone for the fast replies.

[blair.streit]

Awesome! Thanks everyone for the fast replies.

Let us know how it turns out.

[ynotbrusum]

I didn't recognize the 084 designation, but assume it was WLP 840 American Lager yeast.  At that gravity, I bet you will have no problems with the yeast doing a pretty quick job of it.  Realize that lager yeast doesn't necessarily give you the airlock rate that ale yeast at warm temps will show - that doesn't mean it's not working well!  Best of luck with your lager, I'm sure it will be fine.