Gigayeast GY045 German Lager issues

[BugAC]

Brewed my first lager yesterday. I made a starter Thursday (2liters) with gigayeast (200 billion cells). I had my starter on the stir plate for 2 days at about 65. Well before pitching I noticed I didn't see any activity in my flask.

So I pitched the starter (decanted about half of the starter wort) around 3 yesterday. I see no activity at all. I've been gradually lowering the temp. It was down to 55 when I went to sleep last night. Woke up this morning and haven't seen any bubbles or foam or anything. I lowered my ferm temp to 50 where it will stay. Does lager yeast take longer to start working? Is the fact I wasn't at lager ferm temp of 50 yet, the reason for slow fermentation?

 

[SanPancho]

No Bueno.

A lager starter with no activity -- at 65f -- after two days -- is bad. At that starter temp most lagers should be roarin along and well into fermentation of starter.

Bad yeast pack is my guess. Best way to save your beer at this point is to pitch more yeast. You can toss dry yeast right in to wort if available. Or get another vial/pack.

 

[BugAC]

Yeah. I noticed at the bottom of the starter some black specs. Should I pitch another 400 billion cells?

 

[Dog House Brew]

What was the date on the yeast? I've had older yeast take 3 to 4 days to get going. In these events I would check your gravity first. If the yeast is slow to start and actually shows life, I would step the yeast to have a more vibrant pitch.

 

[BugAC]

What was the date on the yeast? I've had older yeast take 3 to 4 days to get going. In these events I would check your gravity first. If the yeast is slow to start and actually shows life, I would step the yeast to have a more vibrant pitch.

Date was 6/2/2015.

Yeah, i checked it when i get in from work yesterday and its fermenting away. Of course, this was after i bought 3 packets of saflager 34/70. But it's churning.

One thing, when i pitched my starter, i was about 80 billion cells short of my target cell count. Would it be ok to go ahead and rehydrate the 34/70 and pitch to get a more vigorous fermentation, and also to help remove any diacetyl that may form?

 

[Dog House Brew]

IMO it wouldn't hurt, but not needed. I usually raise my temp for DRest when I hit about 80% attenuation.

 

[Biobrewer]

Some lager strains can be a little slow to start, but what you saw is quite a long time. I know for The Yeast Bay I specifically chose our Hessian Pils and Franconian Dark Lager because of their propensity to start very fast and even at very low (45 F) temperatures.

Perhaps that specific package was mishandled by the retailer? Not sure what would have to happen to it though, because I've subjected some Yeast Bay vials to some harsh conditions to test them, and they always start up once I get it in some wort on a stir plate. Could also be the yeast strain though, as some don't show a ton of visual activity, but if you monitor gravity it is changing.