Tripel with hot fusel alcohol flavor

I have a Belgian tripel in the primary that has hit it's FG that has a pretty strong fusel flavor. It's only been in the primary for 2 weeks, but I'm a little concerned. I'm thinking of postponing the secondary for a couple weeks and seeing if the yeast cake clears up some of the off flavor. Does this sound like a good plan?

OG 1.079/FG 1.018
3 liter starter of Wyeast 3787 High Gravity Trappist Ale yeast.
The max. temperature the batch saw was around 78F which is the top end of the yeast's range. Thanks!

Waiting it out is always a good plan.

At two weeks, a tripel is going to be way green.

Time is on your side, Kemosabe.

Isn't 78* a little high?

jonbrout said:

Isn't 78* a little high?

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nah. pushing it, but i love that yeast. I do typically add my candi sugar (boiled) after the first few days of vigorous fermentation. OH...and I hijacked...primary that guy some more.

Produces intense esters and phenolic characteristics with complex fruitiness. Does not produce significant amount of iso-amyl acetate (banana esters) or bubble gum esters typical of many yeast of this style. Phenol and ester production are influenced by fermentation temperatures. Phenols tend to dissipate as beer matures. This type of yeast benefits from incremental feeding of sugars during fermentation, making suitable conditions for doubles and triples, to ferment to dryness. True top cropping yeast with broad temperature range.

Origin:
Flocculation: Medium-High
Attenuation: 74-78%
Temperature Range: 64-78F, 18-25C
Alcohol Tolerance: 12% ABV

jonbrout said:

Isn't 78* a little high?

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It's probably a little high and probably one of the reasons for the fusels. However, I really wanted some good fruity esters for this beer and other than the fusel flavor it's friggen delicious!

+1 on "give it time". Whether or not you leave it on the yeast cake, there will be plenty enough yeast in suspension to complete a secondary fermentation and eat the nasties that the yeast left behind in round 1.

Time. More time. I would go another 2 weeks in primary, then bump to secondary for a month, then bottle and wait another 2-3months