Re-Pitch for Peace of Mind

I brewed up a batch of this Irish Stout on Sunday, and after waiting the requisite 3 days for any kind of airlock activity, I wasn't seeing anything. I was concerned because I may have pitched the yeast too early (when the wort was too warm) because I had to run off to something before it cooled down enough.

Anyway, I was stressing about this yesterday afternoon, so I ran over to my LHBS, bought $4 of yeast and gave it a little boost in a starter before re-pitching in my primary. An hour later, my airlock was clicking away happily and I feel way better about the beer.

Just a note for nervous n00bs like myself: it seems like a cheap investment in a little extra yeast is worth the peace of mind and might avert the 800,000 "halp my beer isnt fermenting!!11" posts in this forum.

Also, since this is my first post, let me say that this forum is awesome and I'm looking forward to learning more and hanging out in here in the future.

I was wondering something very similar. I am about to do my second kit (Red Ale) and bought a pack of wyeast. This is a brewers best kit which came with a dry pack of yeast. Can you have too much yeast???

Yes and no. I wouldn't automatically repitch or overpitch with two strains, there's no point. However, it is advisable to keep a few generic dry yeast strains around (like S04/S05) so that if you have a batch that is definitely not fermenting, you can repitch. But like the OP said, wait at least 72 hours and take a hydrometer reading before doing anything.