First-time Liquid Yeast

I'm planning to brew a bock from an extract kit this weekend and I have a White Labs liquid yeast (#833). It says to take it out of the fridge anywhere from 3 - 24 hrs before pitching. Do I just pitch it in the cooled wort like a dry yeast and aerate? Thanks.

That would work, but you would get off to a quicker start by making a yeast starter.

I'll second the starter. Especially because the higher gravity of the bock.

Turtlehead, you can indeed pitch it directly into your cooled wort. If you are using liquid yeast for the first time, welcome to the world of liquid yeasts! You wont be disappointed.

You will find that many here, as well as many other homebrewers use liquid yeast, but use "starters", which multiply your yeast, allowing for an even better ferment. I would suggest pitching your tube of yeast on this batch to get used to using it, and do a search for "making a starter" for making your next batch.

Welcome to brewing!

I don't think anyone here would recommend you do anything other than make a starter. Not that you HAVE to. It's just about our #1 recommendation for new brewers.

The main thing about a starter is to ensure your yeast is alive and viable.
By making a starter you will pitch your yeast while it is very much alive. This will reduce your lag time also and get the full batch fermenting quicker.

There's not too many things worse than brewing and ptiching your yeast and it sit dormant for 3-4 days.

Thanks everyone. This forum is truly invaluable! And I can see that patience is definitely going to have to be acquired for the best possible outcomes. (I bottled my first brew last Thursday and am already thinking about batches number 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, ....)