Finishing Off A Strong Belgian Ale

[Millet Man]

I have a strong Belgian ale on the go (it's the wedding beer!) it's OG was 1.106 and it has pulled up at 1.031 after almost 3 weeks in primary. Yeast was 2 pkts of T-58 in 22 litres, took off like a rocket and got down to 1.040 after about 4 days then down to 1.031 in 2 weeks and now stabilised. Started ferment at around 20C and raised temp to 24C after 4 days to finish off. ABV is currently 10.0%

It should be getting down to 1.020 ish and 11.5% ABV, tastes great but still a bit sweet.

My question is what's the best way to finish it off? I have massive amounts of yeast slurry at my disposal; T-58 (1st gen chilled) and W34/70 (1st gen active ferment) that I could use to finish it off. It's a gluten free beer so can't go for liquids.

Would W34/70 affect the estery character and can it handle high ABV?
T-58 is the safest bet but will it attenuate any better than the original T-58?

Any thoughts?

Cheers, Andrew.

 

[raven19]

Tough question, esp considering you cant go liquid.

If it has totally stopped fermenting (due to high alc % as I understand from your post) then simply adding more of the same yeast wouldnt help as they are struggling under the high alc %.

Any new yeast may not have a significant effect on the flavour as most of the fermenting has occurred.

Cant comment on the 34/70 though. All the best!

2c.

 

[neonmeate]

i don't think you'll do much better than 1020 . You could try some Brett! but that might struggle with the alc level. and would be extremely slow. and possibly scare the wedding guests. i would think 3470 would struggle above 11% but i dunno.

edit i didnt spot the gluten free thing written all over your post...! i have no idea of the fermentability of that stuff...

 

[marlow_coates]

Had trouble getting a similar brew down the extra points (not gluten free though).

Used a champagne yeast. Could be worth a shot.

Or go to LHBS and see what dry yeasts they have with high alcohol tolerance. Better yet order through sponsors (good info on yeast tolerance).

If your yeast truly has met it's alcohol limit then be aware that it probably won't carb up in a bottle with priming sugar. A new yeast strain will definately be needed here to get that extra tiny bit of fermentation. Unless you are kegging, then ignore all that.

Hope it's the goods :icon_cheers:

 

[Millet Man]

i don't think you'll do much better than 1020 . You could try some Brett! but that might struggle with the alc level. and would be extremely slow. and possibly scare the wedding guests. i would think 3470 would struggle above 11% but i dunno.

edit i didnt spot the gluten free thing written all over your post...! i have no idea of the fermentability of that stuff...

My target is 1.020 but it has pulled up at 1.031, T-58 should do the 11.5% ABV I'm after and the wort should be that fermentable - just not sure if it just needs a fresh batch of yeasties to do the job, I've fermented at 9.0% before with this yeast and it went fine.

 

[Screwtop]

My target is 1.020 but it has pulled up at 1.031, T-58 should do the 11.5% ABV I'm after and the wort should be that fermentable - just not sure if it just needs a fresh batch of yeasties to do the job, I've fermented at 9.0% before with this yeast and it went fine.

Don't go the yeast path, use some demerera sugar, in a little water and simmered for 10 min, cool and add to the wort, try 300g to start with you can add more to reach your desired FG.

Cheers,

Screwy

 

[newguy]

You can try adding 2-3 tsp of yeast nutrient boiled in 250ml water. Also don't be shy about raising the temperature of the beer to about 30C or so. At this late stage, the increased temperature won't add very much in the way of fusels/esters/etc since it's almost done fermenting.

 

[Swinging Beef]

At the risk of doing what I hate hearing....
What you should have done, with a beer that big, is add some of the simple sugars later in the ferment, otherwise the yeasties get tired from eating too much desert before they have had their meat and potatoes.

I had a similar thing happen with a massive Belgian Tripel IPA that I did in winter.
Wake up some yeast slurry you have haning around, and make sure it is active.
Sterilise an egg whisk.
Cover your mouth with a cloth.
Whip the lid off, and whisk your wort to get a big foamy head on it, introducign as much air back into the wort as you can.
Throw in the active yeast.
Keep him warm.

This kinda emulated the Brittish method of "Taking the cask for a walk" for big barley wines. Rouses the yeast and gets more oxygen back into their little bodies.