Priming and Bottling of Lager

[W0rthog]

I have read in the title "How To Brew" - by John Palmer, that it is sometimes necessary to pitch fresh yeast to beer that has been cold lager'ing for more than 2 months. He states this is due to the yeast resting on the bottom and when bottle time comes, may not be enough to carbonate. This makes logical sense to me. My question is how much yeast should I pitch for carbonation purposes in a 5 gallon batch? He states a ready-to-pitch package of liquid yeast or 1/4 cup of slurry. I'm not sure what a ready-to-pitch package is. If referring to a smack pack, it seems too much. My thinking is to grab 1/4 slurry from the bottom of my batch and dump it in the bottling bucket.
Any advice for a newbie?

 

[daksin]

You really don't need much. If beer has been lagering for a few months, just a few ounces of slurry will be much more than enough. If you have access to 5gram packages of yeast, that's a good amount- I don't like opening a full package of 11g of good dry yeast just to carbonate. Champagne yeast is also good for carbonating (only works on your nice simple priming sugar), is darned cheap, and comes in 5g packets. I try to keep one around for big beers that have been aging for months and months where the yeast are probably pooped out.