Question on Wyeast 3787

I recently brewed a Patersbier, which called for Trappist High Grav. yeast 3787. I made a starter a few days prior, and on brew day, right before I was about to pitch, I noticed that the starter had a very thick layer of krausen, thicker than any I’d ever seen on a full batch of beer (picture a consistency similar to homemade whipped cream). It also had a somewhat sour smell, similar to the brett or lacto smell you get when making a sour ale.

Immediately, I thought that this must be some sort of infection, but I read NB’s description of the yeast which read: “Wyeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity strain is a robust top cropping beer yeast with phenolic character.”

I’ve used this yeast once before, but without making a starter, and I’ve never seen a starter look/smell like this one. I just wanted to see if anybody else is familiar with this yeast, and whether or not what I’m describing is common. Any and all feedback is appreciated, thanks!

Oh yeah, the krausen is huge with that yeast and lasts for approximately 4 weeks before settling out. Patience is required but will be rewarded.

Yup, just did the paresbier (it’s great!!!). That yeast will produce a lot of krausen. Takes awhile to flocculate too. Like they said above, patience is rewarded. You will get ester from the yeast that go from clove on the bottom of the temp range to bananas on the higher end to bubble gum if you ferment really warm. ( mine has a Juicy-Fruity taste/smell and it’s great!!!) this is also a good yeast to harvest if you do such.

And before you rack off that cake, make sure you have a triple ready to pitch it into. It will not disappoint.

wow, I must be in a time warp of some sort. It never lasts that long here.

Next time I think I’ll try adding yeast nutrient. When I used nutrient for my recent batch with 2565, which is also recognized for long krausen time, it fell in just 2 weeks or so instead of the usual ~5 weeks.

I just breathed a huge sigh of relief, and thank you all for the feedback! I like the idea of reusing the yeast cake, as I was planning on brewing this weekend and haven’t made a starter for anything yet. I’ve never reused yeast before, so I’m not sure how to best go about it? Do I need to wash the trub from the yeast first and repitch it into a separate carboy, or do I just rack my new batch of wort right on to the cake in the original carboy? If the latter, are there any risks of infection by doing it this way?

wow, I must be in a time warp of some sort. It never lasts that long here.[/quote]

The one time I used it in a 1.080 tripel, mine was at about 2" of krausen for over 2 weeks. It took almost 3 weeks to reach my FG of 1.003. It’s a slow mover in my experience.

If the new beer is around the same OG as the current one, I’d use about 1/3-1/2 of the slurry. There is no benefit to rinsing it. Just pour some into the new fermenter, or into a sanitized container to save in the fridge. If the new beer is significantly higher in OG, you can simply rack the new beer onto the full slurry in your fermenter. Assuming the current batch was good, there is no danger to the new batch.