Wyeast 3787

Just had a quick question for anyone that has used this yeast in the past.

I brewed a 2 gallon batch of the northern brewer Patersbier recipe, and pitched a whole activator pack of wyeast 3787. Took off pretty quickly, and had consistent airlock activity for close to a week.

Fast forward to 3 weeks from pitching, Bottling time (Primary for 3 weeks, no secondary). When I took the lid off the bucket it looked just like the picture on post #7 in this thread. I didn't mess with it at all, so I don't have a FG, but assuming this is done fermenting, can I go ahead and bottle, or should wait for the krausen to fall? Also, if anyone knows, is this normal behavior for this yeast strain?

Thanks

[Obi-wan] Luuuuuuke! Use the hydrometer! [/Obi-wan]



I've used it for a dubbel and it was done after a week. It didn't have as much scum as that picture, but it wasn't super clear on top either.

Many Belgian and Weizen yeasts are top-cropping yeasts and form an extremely thick, mousse-like krausen that's mostly yeast. Sometimes they are so thick they don't fall although that has never happened to me. But I usually relocate the carboy after the vigorous fermentation and often move it a little during fermentation to insert or fish out an ice pack from the water bath, just that little bit of agitation could be enough to get it to fall.

I would think if you get a good hydro reading that it would be best to rack from underneath it and go. If it were to fall now a lot of that yeast would go back into suspension and you'd prob have to wait a while for it to clear again. But I'm just guessing since it hasn't happened to me and I don't bottle.

Sounds good, thanks for the feedback guys!

Mantis said:

I brewed a 2 gallon batch of the northern brewer Patersbier recipe, and pitched a whole activator pack of wyeast 3787. Took off pretty quickly, and had consistent airlock activity for close to a week.

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I brewed a 5 gallon batch of the NB Patersbier recipe in July using Wyeast 3787. The krausen did settle after two weeks but it took a while. This yeast strain is very slow to flocculate but it will given time. I gave it two weeks in the primary and one week in the secondary but wish I would have given it a few more weeks to let it clear better. Final Gravity was 1.006 from an OG of 1.047 so my attenuation was great.

This turned out to be one of my favorite beers to date. It's nice, crisp and dry with lots of complexity, especially considering it's a single malt.

Gnome,

Thanks for the feedback, greatly appreciated. What temps were you fermenting at? mine have been around 70 degrees F.

Mantis said:

Gnome,

Thanks for the feedback, greatly appreciated. What temps were you fermenting at? mine have been around 70 degrees F.

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I pitched at 59F and let it free rise up to 78F (took about 2 days). I left it at 78F after that.

EvilGnome6 said:

I pitched at 59F and let it free rise up to 78F (took about 2 days). I left it at 78F after that.

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Ok cool, i'm going to go ahead and warm it up a bit, hopefully that will help the krausen fall and fermentation finish.

I use this yeast a lot in belgian dark strong's and have had great results. Though as said above, you need to let this yeast sit in the primary until the krausen subsides and the yeast flocculates. I usually let the beer sit in the primary for three weeks with this yeast - it gives it time to attenuate fully and will leave you with clear beer. I have had beers go from 1.095 to 1.008 with this yeast.

bierhaus15 said:

I usually let the beer sit in the primary for three weeks with this yeast - it gives it time to attenuate fully and will leave you with clear beer. I have had beers go from 1.095 to 1.008 with this yeast.

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That's why I was curious if anyone still had a thick krausen after sitting in the primary for 3 weeks, it just didn't seem normal to me. So the krausen will drop eventually, correct?

I used this in a Dubbel recently. When I went to check FG after about 2 weeks in primary, there was still a thick, nearly 3" krausen on top. My gravity was about 6 points high, so I gave it a gentle stir with a sanitized spoon. A few hours later, I had blowoff again. Two days later, FG dropped 6 points and krausen fell back in.

This yeast painted my ceiling a nice splatter of tan sometime last night! Blew a 3/8" blowoff right off the carboy

I used this in a quad about 4 years ago... so my memory is a bit distant. It fermented fine, eating through most everything in about 4 days, but took almost 2 weeks to reach final gravity. I also roused mine a few times. I used a prolonged clearing tank on that beer and was happy with the results. The beer did not peak for over a year though...