Incomplete fermentation with Wyeast 3056 (Bavarian Wheat Blend)

I'm having a problem getting a batch to ferment out and need some advice.

I made a 10 gallon Dunkel Weizen, trying to get close to Erdinger which is very clean and low on the funky flavors unlike most Hefe's and Dunkel Weizens. Used WY3056 because it is advertised as: "This proprietary blend of a top-fermenting neutral ale strain and a Bavarian wheat strain is a great choice when a subtle German style wheat beer is desired. The complex esters and phenolics from the wheat strain are nicely softened and balanced by the neutral ale strain." Lots of people recommend this yeast for a more neutral hefe/dunkel weizen.

My recipe is from this forum, 10 lbs german wheat malt, 9 lbs german pilsner, 1 lbs chocolate, 1 lbs munich. I mashed at 155, was shooting for 152, but MLT is a keggle and it dropped back down to 152 pretty quick and I maintained it there by firing the MLT and recirculating.

I split the batch into two better bottles to ferment. OG measured at 1.049 but I only measured one fermenter and not sure which... This was on 8/23, 16 days ago. On 9/1 I tested and one fermenter was down to 1.013, the other still at 1.018. I swirled the yeast by gently stirring up the cake and for the next few days saw airlock activity but after checking SG on 9/6, the on fermenter is still at 1.013 and the second at 1.017. Not seeing much going on. The lower one tastes pretty close, still green but pretty dry. The other one has a very sweet twang, definitely not done yet.

Need advice on how to get the second one finished off. It is at 65% attenuation, assuming its OG was 1.049. Other fermenter is at 73% and yeast is advertised for 73%-77% attenuation.

Worth it to try champagne yeast? Swirl again and give more time? I want to bring this beer to an Oktoberfest party and it really needs to dry out more to be good.

bump

Boo. My question was too long...

Swirl and raise the temp up a bit.

Yeah I've tried that its been at 72-74 for a couple weeks. Swirled several times. But good update, Checked it last night and it is at 1.013. That is about 73% and this yeast is supposed to attenuate 73 to 77% so I'm in range now. I would like it to dry out a little more maybe another point or two, I am going to rack to secondary now to get off the yeast cake, has been there for three weeks. Will give it a couple weeks in the secondary to see if it drops anymore

bd2xu said:

Yeah I've tried that its been at 72-74 for a couple weeks. Swirled several times. But good update, Checked it last night and it is at 1.013. That is about 73% and this yeast is supposed to attenuate 73 to 77% so I'm in range now. I would like it to dry out a little more maybe another point or two, I am going to rack to secondary now to get off the yeast cake, has been there for three weeks. Will give it a couple weeks in the secondary to see if it drops anymore

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Chances of it dropping lower would be greater if left and roused on the primary yeast cake 3 weeks is not too long in primary, give it another week

I just checked BeerSmith and looked over one of my past brews. I used Wyeast 3056 in a Pale Wheat that I made last year.

My OG was 1.061, and it finished at 1.013. I pitched at 65degs, then raised it 1 degree per day. After 4 days I pulled it out and let it sit for 10 days at room temp (carboy temp was ~72degs). I then cold crashed at 35 for 3 days, then dry hopped in a keg for 2 weeks at 55degs. It was aerated with an air pump, had yeast nutrient, and I used a starter. It came out excellent, with a slight sweetness that was balanced with the hops. I'm about to brew this again, in fact.

I would say that 1.013 is fine, based on my experience with 3056.

Thanks I think I'm close too. I really like erdinger dunkel weizen and this is a clone attempt. Erdinger is dry for a dunkel weizen. Not too sweet and not all the eaters that a hefe has for example. This yeast is supposed to be pretty neutral.

How did you split up the yeast when splitting batches? Just curious. My 3056 fermented weizenbock recently finished in a couple days and is very stable down at 1.020 or so, I mashed very high, but I think I may end up a few points lower as well. Actually I thought I would have been super high FG, but it seems the 1056 in the blend did the job of attenuating well.

mbobhat said:

How did you split up the yeast when splitting batches? Just curious. My 3056 fermented weizenbock recently finished in a couple days and is very stable down at 1.020 or so, I mashed very high, but I think I may end up a few points lower as well. Actually I thought I would have been super high FG, but it seems the 1056 in the blend did the job of attenuating well.

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Good question, I was pretty careful. Did a two liter starter in a flask. After decanting swirled it well and poured into two measuring cups to be even.

bd2xu - unrelated, yet sort of on topic.. I see in your sig it says you have a La Fin Du Monde Clone that's bottled. Nice! I'm curious if you cultured the actual yeast in the La Fin Du Monde bottle, and if not - which one did you use?

I'm a big fan of Unibroue - Maudite is my favorite, and I thought about trying to culture the yeast in the bottle and coming up with a similar beer.

It was an Austin homebrew clone kit and I really can't Remember what yeast I used. That was one of my early brews, and I wasn't keeping good records. It came out much higher than they advertised and had a lot of fusil's. Not a very good one overall

Here's the kit I used and I am pretty sure I used the wlp 530 and I know I made a big starter.

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=1957