Lager Yeast Starter not fermenting?

Hi all. My first Lager and my first yeast starter attempt; I'm not sure if all is going well.

Wyeast 2124 Bohemian smack pack activated last night about 5pm, allowed to sit for 4 hours at room temp (~75F) (swelled to about 3/4 full).
Made starter with 3000ml of RO water and 300g light DME - boiled for 15 min, cooled in a water bath and transfered into a glass gallon jug. Continued to chill in water bath to what felt like about 60 degrees (I didn't have a thermometer that would fit inside jug; I know, I know!)...but I'm pretty certain it was cool enough. OG ~1.040

Anyway, dumped in the wyeast into my starter and placed a sanitized piece of foil over it, swished it around a little and went to bed.
I had crazy dreams/thoughts about the starter foaming over and making a huge mess of my kitchen...... only to find a very boring glass jug with no activity.

Woke up this morning at about 6 (about 13 hours since smacking pack and 9 hours since adding yeast to starter).....found no activity and a layer of sediment at the bottom of the jug (~.25inches). Swirled it all around and waited about thirty minutes and it settled out again.
So is it done, or not yet started??
I took a SG reading to find it still around 1.035.....
So is my yeast dead or just not yet begun?
Do I need to be more patient? Does lager yeast normally settle prior to fermentation?

Any words of wisdom or experience would be much appreciated!

Give it time... it'll pick up soon enough!

To update: at about 24 hrs I started to get little tiny bubbles and the yeast wasn't settling like it did in the beginning. I Let it go for about 48 hours and took SG to find it at 1.010 (started at 1.040) So I'm going to put it in the fridge now and see if the yeast cake settles out. When should I decant? I do not plan on using this starter for another week.

Is it normal for lager yeast to be so slow and seemingly non-active?

Decant right before use when it is taken out of the fridge. One week is fine for a timeline. Many starters fail to give you a krausen/active volcanic show.

Yeap. I had a starter that didn't do anything at all! It wasn't until I tasted it that I realized that it really did ferment.

Coincidentally... I think it was 2124 as well...

+1 to decanting just before use.

Thanks everyone for your input. I have the starter sitting in my fridge, but I have this uneasy feeling that something is wrong with it. Is it reasonable and practical to use this yeast to double up and repeat the starter (my recipe called for a 1 Gallon starter, I did a 1/2 gallon starter)? I was thinking about decanting and adding the yeast to another 2L 1.040 starter. This way I get more yeast cells, and I can reevaluate how the starter yeast behaves. Anyone have any thoughts on doing this?

Probably unnecessary, but if it makes you feel better then go for it. Does it look like you have quite a bit of yeast at the bottom of the jug?

Doesn't seem Like a lot, .25 inch on the bottom of 1 gallon jug. I'll figure out how to add a pic and post it.

You haven't said anything about the lager you are making. What is it and what's the expected OG? That info might affect whether you decide you need to do another step on your starter.

It's a Maibock. Starting OG is supposed to be about 1.066. Beersmith is telling me I need 450 billion yeast cells.

hardyhop said:

It's a Maibock. Starting OG is supposed to be about 1.066. Beersmith is telling me I need 450 billion yeast cells.

Click to expand...

Yeah, that's about right. Try to step up to 450 if you have the time.

Here is what my yeast starter looked like after 36 hours and a week in the fridge. It was a 3L 300g DME starter for a Wyeast Bohemian Lager 2124. Does this seem about right?

I did end up doubling up the starter. Did another 3L 300g DME using the yeast from this starter. Been fermenting little bubbles slowly for a few hours (I think this is the activity that I missed the first time I did it because it happened while I was sleeping).