Reviving Yeast

[Jimmy Orkin]

I am trying to revive a package of yeast. I have a Wyeast 2001 Urquell Lager Activator pack manufactured in November of 2009.

I pitched it into a 1 liter starter on a stir plate last night. I did not see any activity this morning. How long should it take for this first step to finish?

[Brewboy]

There's no way of knowing, it just depends on how many viable cells were still there. I've had a starter go for 2 days before showing signs of fermentation.

If you don't see anything by day 3, I'd say that there were not sufficient viable cells to propigate the volume you pitched in.

[Jimmy Orkin]

Here is an update. This morning, after about 36 hours I am starting to see signs of fermentation with bubbles in the starter. I am going to let this first step go to completion, chill to drop yeast and pour off beer before I start the second step.