5 replies to this topic

[Fatman]

I've been dragging my brother to Victory Brewing, and he's developed a taste for their Golden Monkey Tripel. So, for a low-cost Xmas present, I brewed up Denny's clone recipe. My O.G. was 1.084 and I dropped in a pretty good sized charge of WLP 550. It was fermenting away within 12 hours, but slowed big time by 48 hours. I noticed the room it was in was a little cold (low 60's), so I moved it into another room that was around 67-68. It kept bubbling away slowly, but steadily. After one week, it was at 1.030, but the sample tasted yeasty, so I let it go. I didn't drink the whole sample, and overnight the sample had a krausen, so I figured it was still plugging away. After another week, it was at 1.016, and the sample still appeared to have yeast in suspension. Another four days have passed and it's still bubbling away.This is the first time I've used a Belgian yeast in three years, and I didn't really know what I was doing back then. Is this type of long, slow fermentation typical with Belgian yeasts?A side note - somewhere along the line, I had read a recommendation to drop a few hop pellets in the starter. After listening to a Brewing Network podcast where they said isomerized alpha acids coat the yeast cell walls and inhibit cell growth, I stopped adding the hops, and my fermentations have gone from good to great.

[MtnBrewer]

A lot of yeasts, and Belgians tend to fall into this category, are pretty temperature-sensitive. By that I mean that their fermentation dynamics depend a lot on the temperature. What a lot of brewers do is start at coolish temps and then allow it to rise into the 70's and sometimes higher. Sometimes they will stick if the temps stay in the 60's for the whole time. So I'd say that your experience of a slow & steady type of fermentation is par for the course with that strain.As for hops in the starter, it's just a waste of hops. There's no need for it.

[ThroatwobblerMangrove]

As for hops in the starter, it's just a waste of hops. There's no need for it.

I've had great luck not hopping my starters so I tend to agree with this.

[Fatman]

It was a nice surprise - I didn't want to give a 1.030 Belgian as a gift.

[jasonrobertcohen]

It was a nice surprise - I didn't want to give a 1.030 Belgian as a gift.

Some strains are slower than others. I'm got a ferment going with WLP565 right now that I have ramped from 80*F to 89*F over the course of 9 days, and its only now hitting expected attenuation levels (75-79%.) It's been 28 days.jrc

[ncbeerbrewer]

I agree that I think Belgian yeast can chug along a bit slower but I brewed a Belgian Beer with wLP550 and it was done in 7 days. The thing that threw me off was the FG was 1.002 which was way lower than I wanted but it still turned out good. I think too starting cooler and warming up very good with Belgian Yeasts.