You might want to see if you can get another package of yeast. Making a starter on Friday for brew day Saturday is not enough time to build up enough yeast cells for a lager. A good health pitch for a lager is around 500billon cells for 5 gallons. Each pack is around 200billion cells and declines the older the yeast gets from the manufacturers date.
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One thing you must keep in mind with lagers is that youāll need substantially more yeast, 2-3 times as much. So prepare that starter and get it finished so you can cold crash it, decant, and add the yeast to a larger starter.
Also, youāll see longer lag due to the pitch temps. These temps also keep the fermentation in check so it wonāt be as vigorous. So relax, it will kick off and finish.
Honestly Iāve switched to using 34/70 rather than most liquid Lager strains. The only time being if itās a speciality Lager yeast (2001/2007 fir their respective styles). By the time you buy the yeast and keep stepping it up you could have bought 2-3 packets of 34/70 and called it a day.
Of course, if I have time and plan ahead I will buy a liquid strain and make a small 2-3gal batch to build the yeast.
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I donāt make starters for any liquid least either. I do what @loopie_beer does make a 2 1/2 or 3 gallon and repitched the yeast. Iād rather make beer than starters like I said before
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When making the starter room temp is fine as youāre propagating yeast not making beer. I try to pitch the yeast reasonably close to fermentation temps, ostensibly to avoid shocking them. ( another one of those brewing gospels that may or may not be based in fact )
No need to put the stir plate in the freezer.
Once you do a lager or three youāll be a pro.
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First whatās up with all the āwords of the day?ā See: ostensibly and Here with incredulous . 
Second youāre absolutely correct. Your growing yeast and want them to grow as much as possible, so temps donāt matter. I also agree that once you get the hang of lagers youāll be a pro and start brewing them more often. At this point Iām at least 50/50 Lager/ales, if not more lagers than ales.
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FWell as they said on the jaws movie, we are going to need a bigger boatā¦thanks for the help guys. Itās unanimousā¦I need more cells. I have two more packs coming that will arrive weds. So I will make starters with these two, and depending on when my son shows up with the third, we will either make a small starter or just direct pitch the third. Brew day will be Sunday if all goes well.
Thanks again for the quick guidance, my luck I would have read that part of palmers book too late.
I should have enough cells now !
Looks like there is also some guidelines to follow with temperatures during fermentation ( lowering then raising etc.). I am going to have to lay out my notes and procedures for this batch.
I would like to retire and work at a micro brewery for funā¦ This stuff is really cool.
Thank you all again!
Now itās time to crack one of my last few Belgian Tripel brewsā¦I love the taste of that brew. Just the ABV kicks my a$$ā¦
Iām a newbie to lagers alsoā¦ and having a half gallon of yeast slurry to pitch wasnāt part of my concernā¦ I pitched at 65, when the fermentation startedā¦ I just turned down the temp (sorry guys) it all went fine, or so as far as I can tellā¦ It was very drinkableā¦ With that said, I will do some more lagers, tinkering of courseā¦ but plan to do most brews with aleā¦ then aging at lagering tempsā¦ I donāt have a fancy palate and I would beg to differ that MOST peeps could tellā¦ Sneezles61
After plugging in all our ingredients of the Oktoberfest batch, along with the 3 packs of wyeast 2633 , I printed out the brewsmith brew steps and saw for fermentation they are saying about 14 days total but all at 67 deg F. This does not sound right based on the yeast and the fact this is supposed to be a lager. What do you guys think ?
I was all geared up to be fermenting at around 50 deg. Then transfer to a keg or secondary and lager at 35-38 for a couple of months.
Itās our first lager, so I am not exactly sure what the right procedure should be.
I typically look up the data sheet for the yeast and ferment in that recommended range, and usually below the midpoint.
Thank you
Did you change the beer style from ale to lager in beersmith?
OH maybe thatās itā¦ I never checked that. I figured it was based off the yeast.
Thanks for that ! I am still learning with brewsmith.
Beer smith is a computer program with default settings. Check your recipes and it will say 4 days primary 10 days secondary.
You should be doing what YOU know not what some computer program says.
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Yes it was the settings.
I like to use beersmith for a little reassurance as I have never brewed a lager so this is why I questioned the difference. I guess if I were an expert I would not bother to even look at it.
I like Beersmith too. But I only use it for recipe building/alteration and storage.
I donāt think Iāve ever looked at the fermentation or mashing profiles. I run an ethanol plant for a day job and have computer programs telling me when each step is done; so I tend to shy away from a AI telling me what/when to do in a hobby.
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^^^^ isnāt that like a huge brewery too? Sneezles61
well somewhat, no barley, no hops, no altering the ārecipieā, and deffinitly no drinking the product (too many fusels and gasoline is added to make it undrinkable).
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I didnāt mean it like that and to sound so crass. I just mean itās the default settings and itās sad because so many inexperienced brewers do take it as gospel.
no worries I did not take it that way loopie. Its tough when you are learning and you are right, I put a lot of faith in the program, but not noticing a small detail like having the correct style set ā¦ could trash the beer. I just assumed it was basing the fermentation temperatures off the yeast that is entered. But I suppose someone who really knows what they are doing may purposely use some yeast strain in a different manner for affect in their own recipe so the program needs to have that flexibility.
I really do appreciate you guys on this forum as I know I more than likely would have had several bad batches over the past 7 months if not for getting guidance here.
Its all good today. Just put the oktoberfest in the primary, pitched and tucked away in the feezer at 50 deg, and drinking a Kama Citra IPA out of the new kegerator with perlick flow control faucetsā¦ 1st pour was perfect, and no more going down into the cellar every time I want to pour a beer. 
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The most Iāve ever learned was from a homebrewer that had opened a brewpub here and his first beer tasted like crap. It was supposed to be an IPA that I thought was supposed to brown ale. Yeah it was that dark and malty. I said, ānot too bad for a basic brown ale.ā He said āitās an IPA.ā
Shortly thereafter he hired a Brewer. He recognized that he didnāt know everything and was in over his head. The most I ever learned in life, really.
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