rich_lamb
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 28/9/07
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Just made a couple of beers with Wyeast 3787 (Westmalle yeast) and it's been a pretty interesting yeast.
First, a low-ish gravity (1.042) pale ale, mainly for harvesting yeast. At completion the krausen sludge was at the top of the fermenter, so it had nearly climbed out. It attenuated aggressively too, though with all the hot weather down here I had a temp control issue, and it got up to about 23 at times.
Aroma in the fermenter wasn't a thrill - after some research on this yeast I think somebody nailed it with: "quite sulphury, with hints of arse and feet".
So I pitched 250ml of slurry into a well aerated higher gravity ale which I fed with more syrup after a couple of days of active fermenting - total OG would have been about 1.082. This time I was religious about temperature control. Held at 18 until fermenting, then allowed up to 19 for a few days.
So it climbs out of the airlock a couple of times, which seems to be the norm for this yeast. I've seen plenty of youtube videos of it blasting out airlocks...
After a couple of weeks it's still bubbling along; the krausen has settled down and I've let the temp up to 21. It's giving me a chocolate-banana aroma now, which is nice.
Anybody else had fun with this yeast? What can I expect after time, and moreover - does it normally take a while to finish?
First, a low-ish gravity (1.042) pale ale, mainly for harvesting yeast. At completion the krausen sludge was at the top of the fermenter, so it had nearly climbed out. It attenuated aggressively too, though with all the hot weather down here I had a temp control issue, and it got up to about 23 at times.
Aroma in the fermenter wasn't a thrill - after some research on this yeast I think somebody nailed it with: "quite sulphury, with hints of arse and feet".
So I pitched 250ml of slurry into a well aerated higher gravity ale which I fed with more syrup after a couple of days of active fermenting - total OG would have been about 1.082. This time I was religious about temperature control. Held at 18 until fermenting, then allowed up to 19 for a few days.
So it climbs out of the airlock a couple of times, which seems to be the norm for this yeast. I've seen plenty of youtube videos of it blasting out airlocks...
After a couple of weeks it's still bubbling along; the krausen has settled down and I've let the temp up to 21. It's giving me a chocolate-banana aroma now, which is nice.
Anybody else had fun with this yeast? What can I expect after time, and moreover - does it normally take a while to finish?