WLP545 Over Attenuation

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bmbigda

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I know there isn't much data out there on this strain so I figured I'd post about my recent experience.

I brewed a 10 gallon batch with a friend, Belgian Quad. The OG was 1.096 and we mashed at 152. We used 4 lbs of amber candi sugar.

We split it into 2 5 gallon batches and used 2 different yeasts. I chose 545 and he used 510. I made a healthy 1 gallon starter 36 hours prior to pitching.

The beer was left in primary for 7 weeks until I took the first gravity reading. The first couple weeks it was controlled at 66 degrees, then when the bubbling slowed down i ramped it up to 70 degrees for the remainder of the time. Much to my surprise both of my hydrometers read 1.003 for the final gravity. I tested my hydrometers and they are both fine. The temperature of the hydrometer sample was 68. The beer has no signs of infection whatsoever. It tastes just like you'd expect, very hot. Other expected flavors are present. My buddy's half struggled to break 1.020.

So the apparent attenuation, unless I'm missing something, is 96.6%. Whether or not this is even possible I don't know, but like I said unless I've missed something, this yeast needs to be watched carefully for risk of over attenutation.
 
I brewed a Belgian Golden Strong using WLP570 and also got mid 90% attenuation. I was fine with that but now am having issues with carbonation in the bottles. They've been bottled for 3-4 weeks and have very, very weak carbonation and absolutely zero head. I aimed for 3.25 CO2 volumes using a priming calculator and have opened a few bottles and all have had the same results.

I'm thinking maybe due to the extensive attenuation, too much yeast fell out of suspension to fully carb the beer. Could I pour out my bottles and introduce some yeast back into the beer? I don't want to add a lot more sugar, but some was used to create the weak carbonation, so do you think I should do that?

Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated. Thanks!
 
I brewed a Belgian Golden Strong using WLP570 and also got mid 90% attenuation. I was fine with that but now am having issues with carbonation in the bottles. They've been bottled for 3-4 weeks and have very, very weak carbonation and absolutely zero head. I aimed for 3.25 CO2 volumes using a priming calculator and have opened a few bottles and all have had the same results.

I'm thinking maybe due to the extensive attenuation, too much yeast fell out of suspension to fully carb the beer. Could I pour out my bottles and introduce some yeast back into the beer? I don't want to add a lot more sugar, but some was used to create the weak carbonation, so do you think I should do that?

Any thoughts on the matter would be appreciated. Thanks!

Assuming you had a high OG as well...Just give your bottles more time. They will carbonate if you have faith...and give them time. Don't jump the gun if you aren't sure it's broke.
 
We split it into 2 5 gallon batches and used 2 different yeasts. I chose 545 and he used 510. I made a healthy 1 gallon starter 36 hours prior to pitching.

If you used the 1 gallon of starter without decanting, then your beer is 16.66% starter wort, which is also of a lower gravity (I hope, anyway!), which is also affecting your FG. Not saying the yeast won't attenuate well. Don't know, haven't used it. But your FG is likely lower than it would be if it was 100% from your brew and not diluted with starter.
 
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