Suggestions for belgian yeast

Getting ready to brew a couple of belgians. Probably a strong golden and a blond. The last blond I brewed was with t-58 and I got absolutely none of the belgian funk I was looking for (fermented in mid-high 60’s). Used wy1214 for a strong belgian once but it ended up a bit too sweet (although it was extract0. Been looking at Dave’s experiments with under pitch, etc., so any advice on extracting the funk would help. Anybody have experience with wy 1762 or be-256? Shouldn’t be a problem shipping liquid yeast right now in the middle of the arctic blast. BTW, I BIAB 5 gal batches with a dunk sparge.

Thanks for any suggestions,

Ron

When you say funk, you mean like Belgiany esters or something a little more wild? Or saison-y? My go-to source for Belgian style yeasts is the yeast bay. Saison, clean, feral… he has some great strains.

Some of the best Belgians I made were because of my ignorance at the time severely underpitched. I’ve use wy3711 for some nice saisons. WL530 for Abby ales. I have a package of Ardennes yeast wy3522 a yeast that has been highly recommend to me that I haven’t use yet that will be going into Belgian Trip in a couple weeks. I plan to underpitch and ferment warm

I guess by funk I mean something like I get from a St. Bernardus abt 12. Hard for me to distinctly describe, but even a little more wild would be ok.

Cheers,

Ron

I second the Wyeast 3522 recommendation…some funky phenolics so but not over the top.

I’m biased towards yeast bay… their dry Belgian ale is great, with some nice esters. Would be nice in a blond or golden… wallonian Farmhouse is really earthy, with a real dandelion vibe to it. And saison blend II is fantastic.

Whichever you decide to use, I like to overoxygenate and underpitch by at least half. Brings out the esters significantly.

So I’d like to brew the strong first, simply because it needs to be ready (or at least have a little age on it) for my Masters golf party in April. Figure I could then use part of the slurry to ferment the blond. So if I went with 3522, any ferm temp recommendations? Upper end says 85*I think. I would probably need a small aquarium heater or heating pad to keep it above 75 but it’s doable. Of course I know I’ll get some heat from fermentation. Room temp would be around 68-70.

Mid 70’s should be fine( easy to do here in Fla., but with Winter here you may need to go electric!)

Ive had 3711 up to 90. No problem with the Ardennes I’ve heard. I’m going to pitch mid 70s and ramp it up to 90 then let ramp down to around 70. This will be the first time doing a Belgian in winter so we’ll see. I’m not recommening this yeast or process just sharing what’s been recommended to me

Thanks, guys. Think I’m gonna give the Ardennes a shot and get brewing next weekend. Anyone think that just pitching a swollen pack of the yeast (no starter) would be a good under pitch in a 1.080 wort?

Cheers,

Ron

I’d do it! Are you using pure oxygen?

Don’t have an O2 stone, but I do have a mix-stir and a drill.

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I’d be more comfortable doing that with pure O2. You might want to give it another good stir after 12 or 24 hours or so to give it some more oxygen and use a bit of yeast nutrient.

Thanks PC. I was going to ask about yeast nutrient. Got plenty of that.

Cheers,

Ron

The idea is that yeast produce esters during growth, so by underpitching and providing the best conditions you can for yeast growth, you’ll have much more yeast character. Sounds like you’re on the right track!

Thanks buddy. Looking forward to getting back in the game.

Cheers,

Ron

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I’m wanting to secondary a couple of gallons of this belgian strong on bourbon soaked oak chips. Looking for a little more than a hint of oak, but not in your face. Any suggestions on ounces of oak per gallon?

Thanks and cheers,

Ron

Funny you should ask. I just finished reading " Wood and Beer a Brewers Guide" and for chips they recommend 1/2 oz for a 5 gallon batch. It also says to rinse new chips with hot water to reduce the harsh flavors and the soak them in spirits for 1 week for toasted chips. They also say the chips that you can buy for smoking food is a good source for different flavors

Thanks, Cat. That gives me a good target.

Cheers,

Ron

Doing a couple of things today with this beer for the first time. 1. Splitting a batch in secondaries and 2. reusing yeast.

So I need some advice. I want to secondary two gallons of the beer on oak cubes, and I have 2 one gallon fermentors for that. But I don’t have anything smaller than a 5 gallon carboy or bucket to secondary the remaining three gallons and I don’t want to oxidize it. I don’t have access to any co2, so is there anything I could do to help protect the three gallons that will be in the 5 gallon container? Could I sanitize a piece of foil or saran wrap and lay it on top of the three gallons in a bucket in order to have a bit of a barrier? Or am I worrying for nothing?

Also, I’m putting a belgian blonde onto this cake. I know it would probably be a huge over pitch to leave the whole cake, so I was thinking about removing about half. Suggestions? The beer I’m racking off the cake is a strong golden, about 10%. The blonde going onto the cake is around 1.050 I think.

Thanks,

Ron