Help! Wyeast 3787 starter

I know, it's another "help with a starter thread", but I made a 1.75 liter starter a little more than 24 hours ago with a propogator Wyeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity yeast, and so far there has been absolutely no activity. I'm planning on brewing Sunday, if there's no activity in another 12 hours, should I run out and pick up another pack? I've never used this yeast before, has anyone had any experience with it? Thanks.

You might not see to much activity. If you have an airlock on it, remove it and replace it with foil. Then shake the bottle every so often to give it some O2.

Of all the starters I've done, only wheat yeasts have been very obvious in the starter. Did the smack pack blow up real nice before you pitched to the starter?
None of my starters have formed a Krausen but they do bubble quite a bit and you have to look real close to see that but I do use an airlock. To me, am airlock is essential because then I know the yeast is viable.

BTW I think in most cases, the yeast overwhelms the sugars you make in your starters and this is why you have no major activity.

Good luck
Al

UPDATE: I woke up this morning and there's a small layer of CO2 on the top of the starter. I don't need new yeast, I can make the candi sugar instead now

I'm a complete newbie, but I just pitched the smack pack directly into my primary fermenter after 'starting' the pack for 3-4 hours. I pitched it in about 9pm, by the next morning it was bubbling furiously.

I was under the impression that the smack packs made creating a starter unnecessary, but I could be completely off base.

adagiogray said:

I'm a complete newbie, but I just pitched the smack pack directly into my primary fermenter after 'starting' the pack for 3-4 hours. I pitched it in about 9pm, by the next morning it was bubbling furiously.

I was under the impression that the smack packs made creating a starter unnecessary, but I could be completely off base.

Click to expand...

Starting a smack pack is not analogous to making a yeast starter.

From Wyeast's site:

"Activator™ packages include a sterile liquid nutrient pouch that, when “smacked”, releases its contents into the yeast slurry and “activates” the package. The available nutrients initiate the culture’s metabolism which in turn generates CO2 and causes swelling of the package. This process will reduce lag times by preparing the yeast for a healthy fermentation prior to inoculation. Activation also serves as a viability test..."

A "yeast starter" contains enough fermentables to ensure multiple rounds of yeast replication and the nutrients to keep the wee beasties healthy. Smack packs don't amplify the pitch, starters do.