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A good pitching rate for ''Lactobacillus'' is 100-125 billion cells per 5 gallons of wort. Having a manufacturer supply a cell count or doing a cell count manually after growth in a starter, and then pitching an exact cell count is the best approach. However, counting cells of ''Lactobacillus'' under a microscope can be difficult to achieve due to the small size of bacteria cells, so starter volumes are generally used instead when talking about pitching rates for ''Lactobacillus'' <ref>[https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/1068323126529234/?comment_id=1068337639861116&offset=0&total_comments=47&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R9%22%7D Conversation on MTF with Bryan of Sui Generis Blog. 5/6/2015.]</ref>. Pitching ~0.5-1 liter per ~20 liters of wort (~0.75-1 gallon per barrel) of ''Lactobacillus'' starter is the general guideline. Note that the exact advisable pitching rates of commercial cultures may differ from manufacture to manufacturer <ref>[https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/1077639885597558/ MTF thread started by Brad Primozic. 5/29/2015.]</ref>, and their recommendations might differ from ours.
The amount of growth that occurs in a starter is an unknown unless the brewer can do a cell count. Matt Miller of Sour Beer Blog and Richard Preiss of Escarpment Yeast Labs advise that if ideal growth (1-2 billion cells/mL) can be achieved (for example by using [[Lactobacillus#Samuel_Aeschlimann.27s_Starter_Procedures|Samuel Aeschlimann's starter procedure]] or MRS media), then pitching as little as 100-125 mL of fresh ''Lactobacillus'' starter for 5 gallons of beer can achieve desirable acidity within 24 hours <ref>[https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/1180630378631841/?comment_id=1180733761954836&reply_comment_id=1180740128620866&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R9%22%7D Conversation with Richard Preiss on MTF regarding Lacto starters. 11/19/2015.]</ref><ref name="sbb2.0"></ref>. Moderately ideal growth in a starter results in around 500 million cells/mL, resulting in a 400 mL starter for 5 gallons, and low growth results in around 100 million cells/mL, resulting in a 2 liter starter for 5 gallons, according to Matt Miller (see [http://sourbeerblog.com/lactobacillus-2-0-advanced-techniques-for-fast-souring-beer/ Matt Miller's article] for more details) <ref name="sbb2.0"></ref>. If the amount of growth cannot be accurately determined by cell counting under a microscope, then pitching 0.5-1 liter of fresh ''Lactobacillus'' starter culture per 5 gallons of wort ensures that an adequate number of cells will be pitched. In addition, storage of a ''Lactobacillus'' starter over time will cause the cells will to die, so if a starter is more than a month old then more volume should be used or a new starter should be made. Over pitching ''Lactobacillus'' isn't a big concern.
Another thing to consider is that achieving a pH of 4 as fast as possible is advisable for preventing off-flavors from other microbes <ref>[https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilkTheFunk/permalink/1180630378631841/?comment_id=1181674265194119&reply_comment_id=1181715048523374&comment_tracking=%7B%22tn%22%3A%22R7%22%7D Conversation with Bryan of Sui Generis Blog on MTF regarding speed of acid production with Lacto. 11/20/2015.]</ref>. Larger pitch rates tend to achieve a lower pH faster <ref name="heit_lacto_starters"></ref>. Therefore, unless using [[Lactobacillus#Samuel_Aeschlimann.27s_Starter_Procedures|Samuel Aeschlimann's starter procedure]], pitching 0.5-1 liters of starter for 5 gallons of wort is advisable in general. Even when using [[Lactobacillus#Samuel_Aeschlimann.27s_Starter_Procedures|Samuel Aeschlimann's starter procedure]], over-pitching ''Lactobacillus'' is not a concern (pitching an overly massive starter wort could produce undesirable flavors), so the same pitch rate should still be considered unless the brewer is confident that high growth rate has been achieved in the starter. Other factors that might affect the effectiveness of a volume based starter is the species/strain of the ''Lactobacillus'' being used, how much yeast contamination has occurred, and how old the ''Lactobacillus'' starter is. Some species/strains may require a larger volume of starter, as well as if yeast has contaminated the starter or wort (see [[Lactobacillus#100.25_Lactobacillus_Fermentation|100% Lactobacillus Fermentation]]). If a ''Lactobacillus'' culture is older than 1 month, a fresh starter should be made. Keeping a separate Erlenmeyer flask for ''Lactobacillus'' starters can help to prevent yeast contamination <ref>Private correspondence with Richard Preiss to Dan Pixley. 11/20/2015.]</ref>.