This is a post spawned from my Schwarzbier recipe post back in November.

Beer 1 in the list.

I brewed the Zealous Bock per the Mr Beer directions:
1 Can Linebacker Doppel Bock HME
1 Can Mellow Amber UME
1 Pouch Booster

I used White Labs WLP833 yeast for this instead of the ale yeast that came with the HME. Mr Malty yeast calculator said for this SP I would need 2 vials but I only had one, crap! Didn't check this until brew day and now it was too late to get another one.

Cooled the wort down to 45F and pitched my one vial of yeast. Squirted O2 from my welding gas bottle into the 3 gal glass carboy, plugged the opening, and then shook the crap out of the carboy for 4 minutes. Set my fermentor temp control to 50F and waited.

No visible signs of fermentation for 2 1/2 days then the krausen started with gusto.

I figure I under pitched and the yeast went through a longer than usual growth phase before the alcohol fermentation got going.

The beer has been fermenting at 50F for 5 days now. The plan is to use the yeast from this beer for next beer (The Schwarzbier) on the list in the Schwarzbier post above.

Cheers.

sounds good!! i've seen similar lag times from directly pitching a while labs vial so it's normal. Lagers take a little longer than ales so be sure to leave this in the fermenter for a good while, use a hydrometer to be sure it's done.