How do I get to a 2.5 packs of yeast with a starter

[Phil]

as everyone said, mrmalty.com is the best. here's the calculator link http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

If you're going to make starters on most batches, do yourself a favor and get a 2L or bigger erlenmeyer (i find 2L is enough for me) and FOAM CONTROL FOAM CONTROL FOAM CONTROL

it is seriously the best shit. great for starters when you put your flask right on your burner, also great if you're pushing the limits of your kettle capacity, and ALSO great if you're trying to prevent blowoff in the fermenter http://morebeer.com/view_product/15464/ ... rmCapS1_oz

[Big Tex]

If Jamil recommends 2.5 packs, what he's really saying is you'll need around 250 billion cells of yeast for this beer. So you can either build up a starter using the calculator or dump in 3 packs of liquid yeast knowing that depending on the packaging date, you'll have some dead yeast cells.