How much starter when no starter is needed

[d-usa]

New guy here. I've been reading around and I still have a question about this.

I am currently on my second 1 gallon batch which is fermenting in my bottle. The first bottle was a Brooklyn Brew Shop kit and everything went pretty good. Pitched the dry yeast and had a lot of activity in the bottle in less than 6 hours.

My second batch was an all-grain recipe and I used a liquid yeast. I pitched half the vial and didn't really get any visible activity for a couple of days. It started to have a small amount of krausen yesterday and today it has a very nice head and is looking like it is fermenting nicely.

I now know that building a starter is helpful to get the cell count up, but according to the calculator I didn't need any more cells. But judging by the initial lack of activity it seems to me like I would benefit from doing a starter to help the yeast cells become active so that they can hit the wort ready to do their thing.

So what would be the best way to do this? How big of a starter should I make, how much of it should I pitch, could I make a starter and pitch part and save the rest?

I am sure they are some newbie questions, and I appreciate all your answers!


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[HomebrewPadawan]

If you are doing 1gal batches you are not in "need" of doing a starter with a vial of fresh yeast. BUT, you can always make one to check for yeast viability and to get them ready to eat. Also it is perfectly fine to let a starter ferment out, crash, decant, swirl, then split up and save some for a future starter and future brew...great way to save money.
All your questions can be answered with enough research and thirst for beer knowledge!