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wrote:
> You didn't mention this so I'm not sure if you did it. But did you
> rehydrate the yeast in warm water before you added it to the must? It
> is necessary in order to "wake" up the yeast and let them know they
> need to start doing their stuff. If you add it to the must dry then it
> doesn't "shock" them enough to get active because the sugar hinders it.
> They need water and oxygen to get going.
>
In my case, I just sprinkled the stuff on top. The packet specifically
instructs to do this. To be clear, I'm not the thread starter, and my
stuff did manage to get going.

That being said, I have made starters before from dried yeast. It
didn't necessarily make fermentation better, so I don't bother with it
usually; it's just more work.