Rochefort 10 Clone - Fermentation Pointers

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dotsoj

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I have a Rochefort 10 clone I have brewed a couple of times and keep having the fermentation get stuck at ~1.050 or so resulting in a "dessert" beer. I want to get this sucker down to the FG of 1.020 so I can have some Belgian goodness. I read in some other threads that you can add the candi sugar to the primary when the initial fermentation slows to help with this kind of situation. Any pointers on the way to either tweak the recipe or procedure to help out?

I always ferment at room temp ~70-75 degrees and pitch a starter.

Here is the recipe, target OG is 1.110 for a 5 gallon batch.

18 lb Belgian 2 Row Pilsner Malt
12 oz Belgian Cara-Munich Malt
8 oz Munich Malt
4 oz British Chocolate Malt
2 oz Belgian Biscuit Malt

Mash @ 150 for 90 Minutes

1 oz Styrian Goldings @ 60 minutes
1 oz Hallertau @ 60 minutes

1.75 lb Belgian Amber Candi Sugar @ 60 Mins

.25 oz Styrian Goldings @ 5 minutes
.25 oz Hallertau @ 5 minutes

Wyeast 3787 Belgian High Gravity
 
With such a huge beer you definitely want to do a two stage fermentation the way you outline.

The way I do it is first off, mash at 148-147 for about 90 minutes and do a slow sparge. This will get the most fermentable wort possible.

Next, I do wait until the fermentation just starts to slow, somewhere around 72 hours after first visible signs, and add the sugar in a thick solution (maybe 1 quart of water.)

With this much maltose you really want to keep the simple sugars on hold until the yeast have worked their way through the more complex ones.

Also this yeast works best in the mid 70's.
 
I make a two liter starter for those. Some go bigger but this has served me well and gotten me great attenuation.
 
Hey guys just wanted to update the thread. I brewed this last weekend. My efficiency was a little low, so with the candi sugar I only hit 1.093. However, I performed the 2 stage fermentation and got the brew down to 1.020 and it tastes very very good, exactly what I am looking for! I am pumped, thanks for the replies!
 
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