Slow fermenting Tripel

[Zucker Bee]

Fermenting a Tripel with an OG of 20 Plato for 5.5 hectoliter

After a week, it only droped to 11 Plato

I've used WLP530, wich I used in many other Belgian ales: the way I use it is on the low side on cell count and little oxygen (1 liter/min). With normal gravities (13 - 15 Plato) it takes about 12 days to complete fermentation. So I'm not too out of schedule, but I'm a bit scared this one might stuck. It's a precious beer...

What if I push it with another yeast while my fermentation is not over? I guess there's at least 5% ABV in there, so is it good idea to act fast ?.

My options are Nottingham or US-05 wich I can easily get within 2 days. Would a 500g pack be sufficient? Any opinions on wich one I should use in terms of alcohol tolerance + ester profile ?

Cheers!

Zb

[Hophead78]

What temp are you fermenting at? I've had better success fermeting on the hot side for higher grav beers. I always pitch high grav beer at a higher rate, that could be the issue. I'm guessing that you cannot get anymore of the 530 in a timely fashion to add to the beer? I have not ever pitched an English ale yeast into a Belgian to finish,the nottingham should be able to handle the higher alcohol. I'd be curious to know how it affected the final flavor profile.

Cheers!

Dave

[Zucker Bee]

I've pitched at 18c and it rouse to 24c
Now it has dropped to 21c -ouch!

Zb

[jason.koehler]

Two questions:

1. Is the WLP530 repitched house yeast, or did you buy it fresh for the batch?

2. Are you usually using this yeast for 20 P beers? Maybe it was just too much sugar for the yeast if it was accustomed to lower gravity brews.

I brewed an 18 P golden ale in late spring and used WLP570. At a guess we underpitched by about 50% of what we should have. It was a 12 bbl batch and we only pitched one of their 7 bbl plastic containers...bit of a mistake.

It finished verrrrry slowly, over about 6 weeks, and likely could have stood for another. I thought about crashing the fermenter and finishing with a lager yeast, but opted to cut the priming sugar by a third instead and let it finish out in the bottle. It ended up slightly overcarbonated, maybe 3.8 when I was shooting for 3.5, but could have been worse.

Anyways, the lesson I learned is that with these Belgian strains, don't underpitch unless you've got a fermenter you can spare for 2 months! In reading the comments from users on the WL Belgian yeasts, the common theme is that they finish slowly, and to give them time.

[Valleybrew]

Probably bad news on the 530 stopping. It is extremely sensitive to cooling and once it stops it is pretty much not going to start up again, even with warming. It is a very finicky yeast when it comes to fermentation. I have let it run up to almost 90 degrees F to keep from having the cooling jackets kick on to early and stopping the fermentation cycle. On my last 530 stuck ferment I ended up pitching in another Belgian strain I had actively fermenting to finish off the beer.
Good luck.

[Buckley]

When I use 530 I let it ferment 78-80F. If is see it dropping in temp. I hook hot water up to the jackets and bring it right back up. I just did a tripel with it at 21P. finished at 3.7P. it took about 10 or 12 days.

[Zucker Bee]

Two questions:

1. Is the WLP530 repitched house yeast, or did you buy it fresh for the batch?

2. Are you usually using this yeast for 20 P beers? Maybe it was just too much sugar for the yeast if it was accustomed to lower gravity brews.

3. (...) thought about crashing the fermenter and finishing with a lager yeast.


1. repitched
2. worked fine so far with up to 17P beers
3. I might do that, with a hybrid strain

Zb

[plaztikjezuz]

i never use 530, but, i use wyeast 3787 all the time and they have the same origins from westmalle. when i use this yeast i follow the instruction on how duvel ferment there beers (from brew like a monk) ,starting at a low temperature of around 62F and slowy letting it rise to the high 70's at the end. when i follow this i never have a problem, but if for some reason the beer get a chill at the end the yeast seems to floc out and not complete the job. i wonder what westmalle's fermentation schedule is like?

for a finishing yeast i would go with the fermentis us-05 i think you could pitch it at the lower temp and have to take off and ferment it cleaner then the nottingham which has a particular taste when used dry.

[Zucker Bee]

Thanks everybody.....

I've pitched our house strain, collected from a recently crashed beer. Not much success. Not a surprise since that yeast wasn't active and cold.

I'm not too familiar with the metabolism of dried yeast: when it rises after hydration, is it in the same state as at krausen? eg., being more powerfull than my collected cake

thansk,

Zb

[Valleybrew]

I have talked with a few winemakers over the years and they all recommend following a protocol similar to the attached link. It is fairly involved but definitely makes sense. Good luck.


http://www.scottlab.com/info-center/documents/RestartStuckFermentations.pdf