Whitelabs 570 Belgian Golden Ale

[durgarth]

Hi all,

I'm sure this topic has been raised before but I want some advise from the members out there. 12 days ago I brewed an AG Belgian Pale Ale. The efficency was quite good and gravity ended up being 1058. The yeast I chose to use was a Wyeast Belgian Golden Ale Yeast WLP570

I decided not to make a starter (probably a bad idea) and pitched the yeast at 22 degrees. It has been sitting nicely on 20 degrees since that time. After 24 hours the yeast was doing its job and the fermenting had began in ernest. However after 3 days the yeast stopped working. I checked the gravity at that time and it was 2025. In the past three days the gravity has settled at 1020 and seems stuck there. Overall its been 10 days in the fermenter......

The questions are should I

a) give it a good stir
B) Pitch another yeast
c) leave it and stop worrying.

Any help gous greatfully recieved.

Steve

 

[Dave86]

Do you rack your beers to a secondary? I find this rouses the yeast, much the same as stirring. Haven't used this yeast so can't comment on whether it is still slowly doing its thing, but racking may help the situation.

Cheers

 

[newguy]

It's also never too late to add yeast nutrient. The stuff I'm talking about is a tan powder and is basically dead yeast + some other stuff. Some shops call this yeast energizer.

Mix anywhere from 3 - 5 tsp in about 200ml water (enough water that it isn't paste) and boil it in the microwave for at least 1 minute. You'll probably have to turn the oven on & off to prevent it from boiling over. Dump this into the fermenter while it is still hot. Don't attach the lid right away as the hot vapour will form a vacuum as it cools and will suck all the water out of your airlock & this may contaminate the beer. Give the fermenter a gentle swirl twice a day for a week. If you have or your local homebrew store has diammonium phosphate, you can add a tsp of this as well. Add it the same way, or just put it in with the nutrient all at once. This stuff looks likely clumpy salt or sugar.

This should help the yeast to do its thing. If not, try adding fresh yeast, preferably another vial of 570 stepped up in a well oxygenated starter. As a last resort, try a sachet of dry yeast.

 

[Tony]

I brewed a trippel with this yeast a few years back.

I too didnt do a starter and it took off ok

Mine also got to 1.030 (1.080 SG) and stopped.

I stired it and got a few more points but ended up racking it and holding the hose up for the first 1/4 to mix in some air.

I warmed it up to 22 and it went down to 1.014 from memory but it took 2 weeks to get there.

I would recomend giving it a stir and maybe a bit of air with a sterile spoon, keep it warm and leave it alone for a few weeks to put away.

cheers

Edit: The beer ended up scoring 120 something at beerfest and got a second place in the belgian catagory with about 60 enterants. Nice yeast but be patient!

 

[Stuster]

C.

 

[durgarth]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I thinks its just a patience thing (ie I have none). I have given it a right good stir and will do so again tomorrow and wait a week. After that I will rack it and wait and see how I go.

Thanks again

 

[Airgead]

For what its worth, I brewed a Belgian Dark recently using WLP 570. OG was 1.089 finished at 1.017 (9.5%). Absolutely beautiful.

Depending on the fermentability of your wort 1.020 might be where it wants to finish (although that is high for a 1.058 OG). The rated attenuation is around 75%. I managed to squeeze 80% out of it by using some simple sugars and making sure my wort was as fermentable as possible. I mashed at around 63 from memory and did use a big starter. What temp did you mash at?

I seem to recall fermenting at 18 then warming it up to 25 to finish off.

Cheers
Dave

 

[goatherder]

Last time I used it (it was wyeast 1388, same yeast I believe) I mashed at 64-65 with 15% sugar and got 89% attenuation - 1.080 down to 1.009. It was mostly done within a week. This yeast is a machine if it wants to be.

 

[schooey]

I posted this in another thread, but i guess it's pertinent here. I put a Trippel down with WY1388 a couple of weeks ago. It went like a train from the time I pitched the starter. OG was 1.075, added 0.5kg sugar day 3 and day 4. day 8 I racked it, and it more or less stopped on 1.035 for a week or 10 days. The other day I re-pitched with T-58 and in those 4 days it's come down to 1.029. I'm hoping it will make it down to 1.015 at least... but heres hoping hey.

Lessson learned for me was that I should have just let it run it's course in primary and not arsed about with it

 

[durgarth]

For what its worth, I brewed a Belgian Dark recently using WLP 570. OG was 1.089 finished at 1.017 (9.5%). Absolutely beautiful.

Depending on the fermentability of your wort 1.020 might be where it wants to finish (although that is high for a 1.058 OG). The rated attenuation is around 75%. I managed to squeeze 80% out of it by using some simple sugars and making sure my wort was as fermentable as possible. I mashed at around 63 from memory and did use a big starter. What temp did you mash at?

I seem to recall fermenting at 18 then warming it up to 25 to finish off.

Cheers
Dave

Dave, I mashed a bit higher at 65 although I don't have my notes with me it. As to fermentation I have had it sitting at 20 for the entire time. I'm wondering if I should warm it up a little (after all its very cold here in Canberra at the moment) it certainly can't hurt.

 

[Airgead]

Dave, I mashed a bit higher at 65 although I don't have my notes with me it. As to fermentation I have had it sitting at 20 for the entire time. I'm wondering if I should warm it up a little (after all its very cold here in Canberra at the moment) it certainly can't hurt.

I'd bump the temp up a bit. With an OG of 1.058 the 570 should chew it right down to 1.010 or thereabouts. It does get pretty cold in Cantberra.. what are you fermenting in? I've had brews stop dead when the temp dropped overnight and it flocced out and wouldn't kick back into life. A few degrees and a gentle rousing may be all it needs.

Cheers
Dave

 

[sinkas]

warm it up to 27C over the next 3-5 days,