I am making a Belgian Pale ale and I am going to use Wyeast 3522. What temp should I shoot for fermenting it. The recipe calls for 66F but that is using Wyeast 3655. I want to get a nice Belgian character out of the yeast, but not be over powering. 66F is also right at the bottom end of the spec for that yeast. Any suggestions would be great.
I’ve used the 3522 multiple times and it is a great yeast…not as phenolic as some of the other Belgian strains IMO. That being said, I usually run it around 70 and then try and go up to 73ish by the end of primary which i run for approx 7-10 days. The strain is clean enough that you get some good esters but not too much of the phenols. I then rack to secondary and cool it off to 50 for 7 days…cleans things up and makes a nice beer.
You can do lots of things with the Ardennes…even make a nice Wit.
Pitch at 68, allow it to free rise. If you’re pitching a lot, you can ferment higher with comparable results.
I like to start it at 62-65, leave it there for 5-7 days, then let it rise.
Thanks for all the suggestions! I think I am going to somewhat follow the recipe and ferment at 66 for about 5 days and then let it rise.
