Trouble with lager yeast

Can anyone advise on a lager yeast that floculates and compacts well in bottles. I'm struggling with my 3rd lager and its the same problem. I just can't seem to get good compaction in the bottle resulting in fluffy sediment with even the slightest movement. Tried finings and cold crashing but nothing. I used. w34/70.

WLP380

WLP380

Do you mean WLP830 rather than WLP380 as that one is a Weizen yeast? My experience of WLP830 is that it drops pretty well.

Yes sorry 830 . . . Autocorrect on the phone

Ok looked at them. I use dried as I don't have a stir plate/time/patience to do a starter. Would a wyeast smack pack equivalent do? I only brew 12ltr batches. Has anyone used bry97?

wyeast smack packs are fine , for the amount think twice the usual amount for fermenting at 12/15c but any lower temp like 10c would need 3 times the usual amount for an ale .

Thanks pittsy. I guess smack packs are usually for 23ish ltrs so 1 in my 12ltr should be fine?

if fresh it may have 100 billion cells , but if a few months old probably around 75 billion cells but a 23 litre batch would want around 350/400 billion so to be honest you'd need to make a starter with your pack , around 2 litre with 180 g dme would be ideal .
Just remembered your first bit about starters , then you need an extra smack pack .

I don't brew many lagers so have always used Saflager S-23. I use a single rehydrated packet in 23L. Start at 20C for first 24 hours, then 12C. No problem with it packing down in the bottles.

Doing a starter is easy when you get into it and will get you some better flavours. You'll find you get more freedom to make whatever style you want.

Since I started pitching LOTS of yeast my beers have improved markedly. I just use an online calculator. A 2 litre starter I'd normally fine with one smack pack per 12 litres. For 23 litre batch, a bigger starter would be better (5 litre). I just use a demijohn.

A 5L starter won't contain much more yeast than a 2L unless you step it.

A 5L starter won't contain much more yeast than a 2L unless you step it.

According to Brewers Friend yeast starter calculator it does.

Now that I've looked at the yeast book I can see that a single vial in a 2L starter will grow to 200 million cells and in a 5L starter 300 million cells. So the difference is more than I thought but it's only 50% more for 2.5 times the starter.