Not enough Yeast?

Just joined the site and I just finished brewing my 2nd beer ever. it was a Belgian triple and the SG was 1.071. I used a WL Belgian strong ale yeast tube and pitched at about 77ish degrees. Was that not enough Yeast? Should i pitch more yeast? I also plan to add honey after 4 days of fermentation in 1 gallon of water. Thanks for any help, looking forward to learning more.

AC

You underpitched if thats a 5 gallon batch.... use this site to help you out in the future http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

I may be missing something, but why are you adding the honey to a gallon of water?

yeah its a 5 gallon batch. Is there anything i can do to help it out. i literally just finished the brew 3 hours ago.

and im adding the honey to a gallon of water and bringing it to 178 degrees...cooling it down...then pitching it into the fermenting carboy to add more sugar

Add more of the same strain if you have it. If the honey is brand new you can just pour it out of the bottle. Otherwise just bring about 6 oz of water to a boil, mix in the honey, then remove from heat and let it cool, then add it to the carboy.

great! thanks for the quick reply, ill get to my brew store tomorrow morning and pick up another vial to add

Also, how much honey should i use with the 6 ounces of water?

thanks for the help

That should work. Not sure on the honey as I've never used it. But if you search around on here I'm sure you'll figure things out. This website is a brewing encyclopedia and treasure chest of personal experiences.

Thanks Key West, much appreciated

For the future, try making a yeast starter to ensure you're pitching the proper amount of yeast and that they are alive and active. Great read at https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/attachments/0000/1235/MAzym07_YeastStarter.pdf

Just a few thoughts on the honey...

Fresh honey has naturally low water activity, nothing much grows in honey... it is pretty darn clean stuff. You can just add it directly to your primary.

After primary fermentation, there are billions of active yeast cells. Even if the honey had a stray microbe here or there, the yeast cells will dominate the enivornment, and the stray microbes wouldn't have a chance to get a foothold.

You will want to avoid adding any stray O2 molocules to your beer... that would lend oxidization flavors (cardboard) to it. Another good reason not to mess around with adding water, or otherwise stirring and agitating. If you just poor the honey into the fermenter, it will glob at the bottom.. and over a few weeks, the yeast will dig into it and ferment it.

Agree with other suggestions on pitching more vials, and using starters.

"Man makes wort. Yeast makes beer." == Keep your yeast happy to make good beer!

:rockin:
--LexusChris

good to know, thanks!