Help! Strong Belgian Fermentation Worries

[thunderleg]

I have a Strong Dark Belgian that has been in the primary for 12 days now. I am worried as the Krausen has just collapsed but the SG is still quite high. It is still bubbling regularly - say once every 30 seconds.

The OG was 1092 and it took off like a rocket after aerating the buggery out of it. The SG is now 1048. It tastes OK but sweet. I am using Wyeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity that went from a 750ml starter to a 4L starter then into the fermenter. It was aerated at every stage. My recipe is 45L and includes 12.3kg of grain and 2kg of sucrose. Fermentation went up to about 23C but is now at 20C.

Should I just relax and let it keep fermenting at the current rate? I have stirred the wort a couple of times - is there anything else I can do to push it along? I have another starter with the same yeast - should I toss that in too?

Thanks

Ben

 

[warrenlw63]

Ben.

I'd leave it in the primary for about another week or so. You'd want to see a FG of around 1.025-1.30 before it's roughly finished.

Be patient with that yeast strain it will get there no problems.

Warren -

 

[Kieren]

Hi

The latest issue of Brew Your Own has an article on belgian beer fermentation and states that a lot of belgian breweries start fermentation at around 20C and will let it gradually rise during fermentation, sometimes up to 28C. Apparantly this helps to ferment out more sugars, increasing the attenuation. One brewer said that if temperature peaks then falls down and fermentation slows or stops, it can be very hard to get it going again.

I would try to raise the temp, maybe to mid twenties and don't worry about ester formation to much. The article went into esters and phenolics which I can't remember off to the top of my head but keep an eye on their site for when they update it with the new articles.

http://byo.com/

Failing all this pitch a champagne yeast???

Kieren

 

[sinkas]

I wold bring it up to 26, I have had problems with belgian yeasts going on strike when the temp dropped, so bring it up, and see if they start muching

 

[Darren]

Yep,

Keep it warm.

cheers

Darren

 

[thunderleg]

OK. I'll bring the temp up and see what happens. Thanks for the replies.

 

[thunderleg]

I brought it up to 25C over 24 hours and it has been bubbling strongly for a few days now.

 

[thunderleg]

The SG is now down to 1.012 (from 1.092) and the bubbling has stopped. I am thinking about carbonating it between 3 and 3.5 volumes. I have read of people carbonating these brews at 4 volumes. Any opinions?

Thanks

Ben

 

[barfridge]

That sure is a meaty Belgian. 10.65% ABV according to promash. I'm jealous!

As for carbonation...it's hard to go overboard, just make sure your bottles are up to it. This is where champagne bottles come in handy.

 

[tangent]

sounds like a nice brew
BeerAlchemy gives the carbonation for a Belgian Strong Ale at 2 volumes.

Would you mind posting your recipe? It sounds interesting.

 

[warrenlw63]

Thunderleg.

Make sure you prepare a fresh yeast starter with your priming sugar. That much alc. would have hammered the primary yeast. Otherwise your bottles will take forever (or maybe never) carbonate properly.

I reckon for such a high carb you may be looking at around 3 months bottle conditioning.

Warren -

 

[thunderleg]

How do I get those nice recipe readouts form Promash? I will post it up when I figure that out.

I tasted the hydro' sample and it tastes pretty crazy - very young with a lot of flavours that I'm not qualified to describe.

There seem to be a lot of yeast in suspension still. Looks like pea soup. I have another batch that is near completion - a light ale with the same yeast. I also have a starter going with Wy 2206 Bavarian Lager. I could either use the Wy 3787 from the light ale trub or the 2206 Lager for bottling. Again I call for opinions?

Thanks

Ben

 

[BottleBitch]

How do I get those nice recipe readouts form Promash? I will post it up when I figure that out.

I tasted the hydro' sample and it tastes pretty crazy - very young with a lot of flavours that I'm not qualified to describe.

There seem to be a lot of yeast in suspension still. Looks like pea soup. I have another batch that is near completion - a light ale with the same yeast. I also have a starter going with Wy 2206 Bavarian Lager. I could either use the Wy 3787 from the light ale trub or the 2206 Lager for bottling. Again I call for opinions?

Thanks

Ben

I would use the same strain as you used for primary fermention, and would not use the 2206 lager strain because it will be certain death for them, i dont think they would be that tolerent to ethanol levels like that, poor bastards wouldnt know what hit them.

I'm making a Belgian at the moment too, SG 1.086, been fermenting at around 23-25 since sunday, and its already down to 1.030 after just 4 days, I'm using a abbey II, two packs for this into a 3lt starter at SG 1.070, and aerated for about 3 hours post pitching.

Will keep you informed to its progress, but it better hurry up because i need the fermenter on saturday arvo for a english ale, so it might have to fininsh off in the keg.

Cheers

Brett

 

[thunderleg]

How do I get those nice recipe readouts form Promash? I will post it up when I figure that out.

I tasted the hydro' sample and it tastes pretty crazy - very young with a lot of flavours that I'm not qualified to describe.

There seem to be a lot of yeast in suspension still. Looks like pea soup. I have another batch that is near completion - a light ale with the same yeast. I also have a starter going with Wy 2206 Bavarian Lager. I could either use the Wy 3787 from the light ale trub or the 2206 Lager for bottling. Again I call for opinions?

Thanks

Ben

I would use the same strain as you used for primary fermention, and would not use the 2206 lager strain because it will be certain death for them, i dont think they would be that tolerent to ethanol levels like that, poor bastards wouldnt know what hit them.

I'm making a Belgian at the moment too, SG 1.086, been fermenting at around 23-25 since sunday, and its already down to 1.030 after just 4 days, I'm using a abbey II, two packs for this into a 3lt starter at SG 1.070, and aerated for about 3 hours post pitching.

Will keep you informed to its progress, but it better hurry up because i need the fermenter on saturday arvo for a english ale, so it might have to fininsh off in the keg.

Cheers

Brett

Wyeast recommend 2206 for Dopplebocks which can be up at that %, but probably best to stick with 3787.

RECIPE:

Belgian Strong Ale 1

A ProMash Recipe Report

BJCP Style and Style Guidelines
-------------------------------

18-E Belgian Strong Ale, Belgian Dark Strong Ale

Min OG: 1.075 Max OG: 1.132
Min IBU: 15 Max IBU: 35
Min Clr: 36 Max Clr: 52 Color in EBC

Recipe Specifics
----------------

Batch Size (L): 45.00 Wort Size (L): 45.00
Total Grain (kg): 14.30
Anticipated OG: 1.090 Plato: 21.63
Anticipated EBC: 51.5
Anticipated IBU: 27.4
Brewhouse Efficiency: 90 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Pre-Boil Amounts
----------------

Evaporation Rate: 15.00 Percent Per Hour
Pre-Boil Wort Size: 52.94 L
Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.077 SG 18.60 Plato

Formulas Used
-------------

Brewhouse Efficiency and Predicted Gravity based on Method #1, Potential Used.
Final Gravity Calculation Based on Points.
Hard Value of Sucrose applied. Value for recipe: 46.2100 ppppg
% Yield Type used in Gravity Prediction: Fine Grind Dry Basis.

Color Formula Used: Morey
Hop IBU Formula Used: Rager

Additional Utilization Used For First Wort Hops: -10 %


Grain/Extract/Sugar

% Amount Name Origin Potential EBC
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
59.4 8.50 kg. Kirin Malt Australia 1.035 3
14.7 2.10 kg. Asian Rock Sugar Generic 1.046 198
14.0 2.00 kg. Munich Malt Germany 1.037 20
7.0 1.00 kg. Wheat Malt B&B Germany 1.039 4
2.8 0.40 kg. Crystal 55L Great Britian 1.034 145
1.4 0.20 kg. CaraMunich 60 France 1.034 158
0.7 0.10 kg. CaraAroma Germany 1.030 350

Potential represented as SG per pound per gallon.


Hops

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
75.00 g. Goldings - E.K. Whole 5.00 18.7 First WH
25.00 g. Hallertauer Tradition Whole 7.00 8.7 First WH


Yeast
-----






Mash Schedule
-------------

Mash Name:

Total Grain kg: 12.20
Total Water Qts: 28.52 - Before Additional Infusions
Total Water L: 26.99 - Before Additional Infusions

Tun Thermal Mass: 0.15
Grain Temp: 18.28 C


Step Rest Start Stop Heat Infuse Infuse Infuse
Step Name Time Time Temp Temp Type Temp Amount Ratio
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Protein Rest 5 60 55 55 Infuse 64 26.99 2.21
Sac 5 30 68 68 Decoc 98 10.60 2.00 (Decoc Thickness)


Total Water Qts: 28.52 - After Additional Infusions
Total Water L: 26.99 - After Additional Infusions
Total Mash Volume L: 35.13 - After Additional Infusions

All temperature measurements are degrees Celsius.
All infusion amounts are in Liters.
All infusion ratios are Liters/Kilograms.

Step Time for Decoction Steps represent how far back in time the Decoction was pulled.
Infusion amounts for Decoction Steps represent the amount pulled for the Decoction.
Infusion ratios for Decoction Steps represent the Decoction Thickness.


Notes
-----

Mashed in with 27litres of 63C water to get 55C. 61C as suggested by Proma
sh should be used next time.



Pulled 12 litres and came up to 66C after a
dding back about 10L. 10.6L as suggested by PM should be used next time.




OG 1.092!