wyeast smack packs-starter needed?

[abeyptfc]

was planning on a scottish heavy type extract brew after work tomorrow, ive had a scottish ale wyeast in my fridge for ages that i forgot about and its best before 04/12. is the yeast starter essential, i suppose the answer is yes after paying £5 or something for it or will it just take a bit longer to get going?
cheers
the abester

 

[pittsy]

i would say no, unless its a high og say over 1060 but you need to smack it tonight as it may well take a long time to swell , don't use it until it has swelled it can take anywhere from 3 hours to 3 days , make sure you bring it up to room temp before smacking too :thumb:

 

[abeyptfc]

cheers, ive got trusty old us04 for tomorrow as backup, ive also got a youngs scottish heavy so might save the wyeast for that to see if it improves

 

[zgoda]

In case of this particular strain (be it Wyeast Scottish Ale or WLP Edinburgh Ale, same thing), i'd say you'd never have enough cells in 1st generation, even from 1.5L starter. They're very slow to start and slow to attenuate fully. Nice profile, but problematic fermenter.