OK Ken, Time for my 2 cents of :blah:
I found great results in brewing a wit beer with Belgian Wheat 3942. I found that this yeast thru off a bunch of tooty-fruity and bubble gum like esters when fermenting but after just letting it rest in the low 60’s for a couple weeks in a secondary fermenter left me with a subtle ester profile similar to Affligem Blond. I think it is a mild, more clean yeast profile for lighter beers.
I think there is one common thread between a lot of the brewers in Brew Like A Monk that I think was missed in this posting. Aging in a secondary fermenter. For a couple weeks or more. Stan Hieronymus even remarks about a sign above the aging room to be quiet because the beer is aging. I found after a few experiments in aging and even lagering these ales that you can control the out come. Well, kinda.
Getting the beer off the yeast as soon as 2 days after primary fermentation is done and then slowly lowering the temp until you get it down to 32*F is important to cleaning up some of the left over, strong esters and allowing the phenolics to come forward and give complexity to the malt. I must say that I made one tasty Hefeweizen with WY1214 after doing a gradual step down over 3 weeks.I carbonated it to about 3.5 volumes over the period of a week. I did the exact same recipe but used Ardennes 3522 and made an extremely good beer. Lager!
I’ve also learned that lower mash temps (around 146*F) produce dry, thin tasting beer coming out of the primary. This seems to be better suited for the higher carbonation levels in Belgian styles. Something about the carbonic acid and the yeast profile build body back into the finished beer. I know it sounds crazy, but it does. This is also easy on the palate and leaves few lingering flavors. You taste it, it goes away. Like Coors light.
I may have posted this recipe around here somewhere before, but here it is.
Get a pack of Ardennes 3522 and put it in a 1 L starter of 1.041 made from Pilsen ME. A couple days should do it. I like it to be active when I pitch in.
for 5.5 gal at the end of the boil
5.5 lb Pisner malt
3.5 lb Wheat malt
1 lb Vienna Malt
Mash at 1.5 qt/lb at 147*F for 77 min.
Sparge enough to collect 7 gal. (Watch that pH!)
boil 100 min.
Perle Hops for 17 IBU’s at 75 min.
Spalter Hops for 3 IB’s at 20 min.
Spalter Hops-16 grams at 0 min.
Chill down to 62F and pitch in.
Let rise over 4 days to 66-68F
Should finish out in 5 days. Let rest for 2 days at 64F
Rack to secondary
cool temp to 50F for 5 days
lower temp to 42F for 2 days
lower temp to 36F for 7 days
Lower temp to 32*F for 7 days
Keg and carbonate to desired level over 7 days to 3.5+ volumes/co2
Just a note on my water profile… My total hardness is 16 or less. My actual IBU’s may be less.