Lager Yeast Starter Question

Alrighty folks...

It's starting to get cold out, and I'm thinking now's the time to start getting ready to brew some lagers to take advantage of the cooler temps.

I've gotten in the habit of making starters (for the last 5 or so batches of ale I've made starters), and what I have been hearing on the Brew Strong show is that lagers take like 3 times as much yeast to get the job done. Naturally they recommend making starters.

However, no one mentioned if the process was the same or different than making a starter with ale yeast. Do I follow the exact same process and measurements (I'm going off of what Jamil (mr malty website)) recommends for measurements of DME etc. Do I make my starter at the same temps as ale yeast?

Thanks,

Noleaf

Nm, found my answere here!
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/lagering-questions-134728/

What you can do (this may not be ideal, but good luck finding the one right answer) is the following.

For a lager you have to build up your starter. Maybe at the beginning of the week make a 1L (I chose 1/3 gallon) starter, and allow it to get going for about 2 days. Then add about another 1L of starter (at room temps). Allow that to ferment for two days, then add another 2L of starter (still at room temps). That will help you prop up a 4 quart starters.

I personally do 1/3 gallon, then a couple days later add the rest of the gallon to skip a step.

I always do them at basement temps (which are around 68°F now). I do that even if I do not plan to decant the beer from them. It may not be the super duper truest form of lager, but I'm also trying to be frugal.

For the sake of ease I always do 1/4# DME for each quart. The OG of that is like 1.044 and it helps me keep measurement simple.

Now onto fermentation.

I know not all ferments are the same, but lagers require something called a diacytl (sp?) rest. What this does is it kicks the yeast back into action to clean up some buttery bi-product they create during fermentation.

The yeast manufacturer says to do that once fermentation stops. This message board swears to do it at about 75% of the way through fermentation.

I have found since I drop a few more point during d-rest, that at primary temps (around 50°F) my fermentations have stopped around 75% anyways, so it works out easily.