So got my first Belgian beer ever in my short brewing career in the fermenter. I pitched the yeast about 8 days ago into 1.081 wort (2.5lbs of which is table sugar). I took a gravity reading and didn’t notice that i still had 1" of krausen till after I had the thief in the carboy so took the reading anyway. Still an obnoxious amount of yeast in suspension but came in at 1.026. This thing took off like crazy after I pitched and I have been raising the temp a little bit each day from 64-70 over the week.
I’ve never worked with a yeast that took it’s sweet time like this. Is this standard for this yeast? Every other ale is usually near to FG after 7 days. I bumped the temp up to 71 hoping to help it out a little but don’t want to go too high. How long should I expect till this yeast is done? Really hoping to get this down to 1.012 or lower. Any harm is going a little warmer at this point?
3787 is a beast at first, then it settles down to a slow and steady fermentation. In my experience with it (3 batches,presently on a fourth) it seems to take at least a full two weeks to fully attenuate and longer with higher gravity beers such as tripels. I actually started my latest one (patersbier at 1.051) at 60 degrees a week ago and bumped it up to 66 degrees a couple of days ago. It seems to be doing fine, though I’ll probably bump it to 68-72 in the next couple of days. If I remember correctly, some of the Belgian breweries finish this yeast as high as 80 degrees, although the dynamics of a big commercial fermenter is somewhat different than what you and I are likely using… It’ll be interesting to see how your brew turns out. Please keep us posted. :cheers:
I may bump it up to 72 and just leave it there for another couple more weeks. Was hoping I could have this bottled before I started my next brew but doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen. I might end up bottling those together. Definitely want this one to finish as dry as possible.
For those following, 2 weeks later, still have an inch of krausen (thinking this will never drop without a cold crash). Took a gravity reading and its at a nice and dry 1.008! Going to check it in a couple days and if it hasnt changed, cold crash/lager it for a couple weeks to get it really clear up.
Tasting it I get just a touch of funk as expected from a belgian yeast but also tastes very vinous which kinda took me by surprise. I havent had a whole bunch of tripels in my life so not sure if this is expected. It’s not undesired at all and is quite interesting. Not sure if that is just from the yeast in suspension or not.
Really looking forward to tasting this all carbed up
[quote=“mattnaik”]For those following, 2 weeks later, still have an inch of krausen (thinking this will never drop without a cold crash). Took a gravity reading and its at a nice and dry 1.008! Going to check it in a couple days and if it hasnt changed, cold crash/lager it for a couple weeks to get it really clear up.
Tasting it I get just a touch of funk as expected from a belgian yeast but also tastes very vinous which kinda took me by surprise. I havent had a whole bunch of tripels in my life so not sure if this is expected. It’s not undesired at all and is quite interesting. Not sure if that is just from the yeast in suspension or not.
Really looking forward to tasting this all carbed up[/quote]
Wow, that is nice and dry for a tripel. I just tested my patersbier this morning and it also came out at 1.008. Nice and dry with a good balance of light banana-ish and clove flavors. I might be detecting the same viney flavor in mine as you mention, and I think it might be the yeast as you say.
Looking forward to seeing what you think of it, Matt… :cheers:
[quote=“mattnaik”]So got my first Belgian beer ever in my short brewing career in the fermenter. I pitched the yeast about 8 days ago into 1.081 wort (2.5lbs of which is table sugar). I took a gravity reading and didn’t notice that i still had 1" of krausen till after I had the thief in the carboy so took the reading anyway. Still an obnoxious amount of yeast in suspension but came in at 1.026. This thing took off like crazy after I pitched and I have been raising the temp a little bit each day from 64-70 over the week.
I’ve never worked with a yeast that took it’s sweet time like this. Is this standard for this yeast? Every other ale is usually near to FG after 7 days. I bumped the temp up to 71 hoping to help it out a little but don’t want to go too high. How long should I expect till this yeast is done? Really hoping to get this down to 1.012 or lower. Any harm is going a little warmer at this point?[/quote]
In Brew Like a Monk, Stan points out that in a Belgian beer, the last 10% of attenuation can often take as long as the first 90%. Be patient.
[quote=“mattnaik”]For those following, 2 weeks later, still have an inch of krausen (thinking this will never drop without a cold crash). Took a gravity reading and its at a nice and dry 1.008! Going to check it in a couple days and if it hasnt changed, cold crash/lager it for a couple weeks to get it really clear up.
Tasting it I get just a touch of funk as expected from a belgian yeast but also tastes very vinous which kinda took me by surprise. I havent had a whole bunch of tripels in my life so not sure if this is expected. It’s not undesired at all and is quite interesting. Not sure if that is just from the yeast in suspension or not.
Really looking forward to tasting this all carbed up[/quote]
What was the FG for your tripel? What type of balance did you get with flavors if you have tasted one?
I have a tripel in the fermentor on day 6. Will be holding the temperature at 71° to 72°F for the next few weeks.
I’ll have to check my notes to verify but I believe it finished around 1.005 if memory serves. My biggest complaint with the flavor is there isn’t enough of that Belgian spiciness/funkiness. It’s there but a lot more subtle than I would have liked. I submitted it to a comp and they reamed me a new one saying it was way too sweet. 1.005 is too sweet for them apparently.
I prefer the spicy flavors to dominate. I’m still holding the Velvet Rooster tripel at 71°F. In your opinion, is it possible to achieve more spice flavor by pushing the temperature up to 75°, the top of WY3787 recommended range?
I prefer the spicy flavors to dominate. I’m still holding the Velvet Rooster tripel at 71°F. In your opinion, is it possible to achieve more spice flavor by pushing the temperature up to 75°, the top of WY3787 recommended range?[/quote]
No, you’ll get banana and bubblegum. I use 3787 a LOT (have a tripel fermenting with it now AAMOF). I prefer the phenolics and spice to fruitiness. I always start it fermenting at 62F and hold it there for a week. After that, I spend about 4 days ramping it up to 70 and let it sty there a few days. Then I crash it to 33 until clear.
BTW, “sweet” or not has more to do with hopping than FG.
I prefer the spicy flavors to dominate. I’m still holding the Velvet Rooster tripel at 71°F. In your opinion, is it possible to achieve more spice flavor by pushing the temperature up to 75°, the top of WY3787 recommended range?[/quote]
No, you’ll get banana and bubblegum. I use 3787 a LOT (have a tripel fermenting with it now AAMOF). I prefer the phenolics and spice to fruitiness. I always start it fermenting at 62F and hold it there for a week. After that, I spend about 4 days ramping it up to 70 and let it sty there a few days. Then I crash it to 33 until clear.
BTW, “sweet” or not has more to do with hopping than FG.[/quote]
This^^^^^ is the exact fermenting schedule I used on my current Patersbier. Oddly, it initially was a banana bomb, but after about 2 1/2–3 weeks of aging, the banana almost completely went away and left a nice spicy, clovy presence with just a touch of fruitiness. It was just a touch “sweet” tasting and I agree with you Denny, a bit of hop adjustment would take care of this.
Thank you for the replies. Air lock doesn’t smell like banana this morning, day 8 of active fermentation, so maybe there is hope the tripel won’t taste of banana after bottle conditioning. Temperature is at 71.4°F. On day 4 temperature in the fermentor first reached 70°. I’ll let the temp drop to the 69° to 70° range and hold it there for the duration. Hopefully this temp change won’t cause the yeast to drop out early.
FWIW I started mine at around 65 and had it up to around 70 in the final few days of fermentation trying to get it to dry out. I had no banana flavor whatsoever.
