I started my first lager starter yesterday using Wyeast Czech Pils (sorry forget the #) and when I checked it before work this morning, it was completely flat. There didn't appear to be any activity at all except that the yeast had all settled to the bottom. I gave it a good shake but I'm a bit worried that after 24 hours there is no appearance of any activity at all. I've never used lager yeast before so maybe this is perfectly normal but I'm wondering if the yeast was bad or if I screwed it up in some way.
The starter is 125g of DME in 1.5L of water that was boiled for 5 minutes and then cooled in a water bath. I don't know the temperature I pitched the yeast at but it was rather cool given the water bath. I didn't allow the package to swell and don't usually if it's going into a starter. I usually break the inner bag and let it warm to room temp and then pitch it. Perhaps I should wait but then again, in this case I would have thought it was bad and discarded it by now given the lack of apparent activity.
I washed my starter container with bleach but rinsed it thoroughly and haven't had problems in the past with this. I now use Star-San for my brewing vessels but for such a small amount, and given that I had no Star-San available, I went with bleach.
So, should I just keep waiting patiently and shaking when I'm home or is this one a dud?
Thanks
Graham