# WLP 545 Belgian Strong Ale - laggy ferment?



## Mr. No-Tip (31/3/14)

Hey All,

Normally I'd play this one out, but this is my second laggy yeast in a row, so my confidence is shattered and I wanted to get some opinions.


Eight days ago I pitched a 2l started, chilled and decanted WLP545 into 27l of 1.071 wort. Single pure oxy delivery.
The recipe is a lot like the Brewing Classic Styles Belgian Golden Strong with over 25% dextrose.
The beer took off pretty quickly and chewed down to 1.039 in the first 48 hours.
The krausen then dropped pretty hard and took another 48 hours to drop 4-5 more points.
I'm now at day 8 and 1.022. There is still some small signs of ferment, but nothing significant. Bubles not krausen. I did a spoon based yeast agitation yesterday.
I am used to complete ferments on even big beers within seven days.

My initial thought is that I should have waited before adding the 25% dextrose. I used to do this religiously but got kinda slack for this batch. I suspect the yeast has pigged out on dexxy dessert before finishing their maltose dinnner...

...but, I thought perhaps these other things could be at play...these are probably just me second guessing myself..


The BCS BGS recipe suggests ramping from 18-28 degrees over the course of fermentation. This is with a recommended yeast (WLP570) that has a top ideal temp range of 24. I used WLP545 with its recommended top at 22 and was planning to go to 24 given the style I was going for (yes, with a less than ideal yeast I know). The krausen dropped out at just the same time as the beer got above 22 degrees. Now everything I know about yeast generally suggests more vigor at higher temperatures - the recommended range is just about getting the best flavour and ester profile, right? We wouldn't expect a belgian yeast to conk out coz 24 was too hot?
This yeast did come from my LBHS and I was told the recent batch had gotten warm in a delay from white labs. This set off alarm bells, but the starter went off ok. This would suggest the beer should be OK?
This is the second time I've used my beer bug and the second stuck beer.s. I can't imagine a plastic weight and a metal probe could be having some yeast dulling reaction though?
Thoughts? Experience with this yeast?


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