Dry yeast starter?

[Tinga]

would there be any gains from making a dry yeast starter? I'm making a 5 gallon batch and pitching one packet of WB-06.

 

[a10t2]

Generally, using a starter with dry yeast can only reduce the viable cell count. To get a net increase you need a starter of about a gallon or more. And even then it can negatively impact the overall health of the yeast due to the way they're prepared for packaging.

Bottom line, one packet (rehydrated) is plenty up to about 1.065. If you need more yeast, use part of a second packet.

 

[onemanlan]

I concur with the above statements. Don't bother going beyond just rehydrating the yeast and pitch it that way. Danstar has some good tips on their site as well as HBT has some good threads.