Beer Forum

I brewed on a whim last week, and as a result- ended up taking some short cuts I'm hoping wont hurt me too bad.

I made a belgian tripple (about 1.090) and not taking the time to make a starter, pitched 2 packs of wyeast 3787. After consulting pitch rate calculators I'm a little short. Its been about 5 days. The yeast is fermenting 'vigarousely' but..

My question is- should I pick up another pack of 3787 and make a starter then toss it in, or should I just wait it out and see how low it gets? I know 3787 is a monster, so I'm not too concerned, but would like to make sure I hit my FG.

The real truth is that most all brewers underpitch and get around just fine. If you only pitched one pack for that tripel, you might be in trouble, but if you pitched two, I think you will be okay. Besides, underpitching can be a good thing in Belgians because it allows more esters and other yeasty characteristics to come out more.

The fact is, if you haven't severely underpitched you should be alright.

Hanzo Razor wrote:The yeast is fermenting 'vigarousely' but..

Then leave it be.

It's probably fine. And any minor thing that didn't go fine won't be fixed now by adding more yeast in there.

Wait fourteen days, if your terminal gravity isn't reasonable (1.025 or below), make a small starter of the same yeast, and pitch at high krausen.

But I doubt you'll need to do that. You should be fine.