Should I bother with a starter?

[BobtheBrewer85]

Hello! I'm off today and declaring it brew day. I've come up with my recipe for an IPA where I will have 3.25 gallons of 1.056 OG wort. According to the Mr. Malty pitching rate calculator, I should be pitching ~130 billion cells. If I make a started with a wyeast smack pack and pitch it 3-4 hours later, do you think it will have any effect on my cell count, or would I more just be throwing starter wort into my batch? Thanks for the help!

 

[Jayhem]

I'd just smack the pack a few hours before you pitch to your wort and call it a day. A lot of people use 1 smack pack for 5 gallons of moderate gravity wort and have no problems.

 

[Bamsdealer]

Smack it when you start your brewday and you'll be good to go. As noted, many people just pitch a vial per 5 gallons and make good beer. Id recommend pitching on the cool end of your ferment temp.

 

[LLBeanJ]

What's the viability date on your smack pack?

 

[BobtheBrewer85]

Well, I went for it with just the smaxk pack yesterday, and they're bubbling away in the fermenter now. They were produced on 2/19 if I remember correctly though.