Bottling a Belgian Quad

Hey everyone,

I have a few questions about a belgian quad I made the other week. First off here is the recipe.

5 gallon

12 lbs 4.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 72.0 %
1 lbs 4.0 oz Pilsner (2 Row) UK (1.0 SRM) Grain 2 7.3 %
11.2 oz Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 3 4.1 %
5.6 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 4 2.1 %
3.7 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 5 1.4 %
3.7 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 6 1.4 %
2 lbs Candi Sugar, Dark (275.0 SRM) Sugar 7 11.8 %
0.50 oz Styrian Goldings [5.00 %] - Boil 90.0 min Hop 8 7.0 IBUs
0.25 oz Styrian Goldings [5.00 %] - Boil 40.0 min Hop 9 2.9 IBUs
0.25 oz Styrian Goldings [5.40 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 10 2.2 IBUs
2.0 pkgBelgian Ale Yeast (Wyeast Labs #1214) [124.21ml]Yeast

Unfortunately when I made the beer I had forgotten that I broke my hydrometer a few weeks back, so I could not get an OG. I brewed on January 6 and left it in the primary for 2 weeks. Vigorous fermentation lasted about 3 days. I then racked to secondary on some brandy oak chips. When I racked at 2 weeks (January 20th) my gravity was around 1.010.

Assuming I check today and my gravity reading has not change can I bottle it now?

If I do bottle it now do I need to pitch more yeast or will I be ok considering it has only been 2 1/2 weeks?

The reason I am looking to bottle so quickly is that the oak chips have given the beer the right amount of oak in just 3 days and I do not want it to sit on the oak any longer and I don't want to rack a second time.

Thanks for your help in advance.

go for it.

1.010 is pretty low for a beer with those adjuncts, I'm sure it's there but for future reference most Belgian yeasts should go 3-4 weeks before you should secondary or bottle since they typically take much longer to reach final gravity and yeast don't clean up the fussel alcohols until after they finish with the fermentable sugars so you may end up with some hot alcohol burn with this one. Let us know how it turns out!

Jayhem said:

1.010 is pretty low for a beer with those adjuncts, I'm sure it's there but for future reference most Belgian yeasts should go 3-4 weeks before you should secondary or bottle since they typically take much longer to reach final gravity and yeast don't clean up the fussel alcohols until after they finish with the fermentable sugars so you may end up with some hot alcohol burn with this one. Let us know how it turns out!

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I will definitely keep it in the primary longer next time. I'll check again tonight when I get home but I am pretty sure the it was that low. I did take a taste of it last night after having it on the oak chips a few days and it is not that hot and actually fairly smooth. Maybe the oak chips helped with the hotness?

Anyway, just one more question that wasn't addressed. Do I need to re-pitch yeast for bottling this?

Thanks again for your help.

allhailRITTER said:

Anyway, just one more question that wasn't addressed. Do I need to re-pitch yeast for bottling this?

Thanks again for your help.

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No. There are plenty of viable yeast left in your beer. Now it will take them longer in a high ABV beer to carbonate so don't expect to try one until a month in bottles at 70F. Be sure to use the correct amount of priming sugar. I like this calculator for that since you can choose the style and volume of beer and it tells you exactly how much sugar to use: http://www.tastybrew.com/calculators/priming.html

Belgians are one style that get better with age! I have a Belgian Dubbel going right now and plan to bottle it Feb 7 and let it age until September!

1.010 is pretty low for a beer with those adjuncts,

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Not really. with a low mash temp and all that sugar it is pretty much where it should be. I have one going right now that had an OG of 1.097 and is at 1.012 after 2 weeks.

You would have been better off leaving it in the primary for longer to clean up and age. Belgians do benefit from aging. Now that you are on the oak chips you have to decide how long you want to leave them there. Not optimum bottling a Belgian this fast, but you seem to have no choice if the gravity is stable., because you probably don't want to leave them on the oak for too long.

beergolf said:

Not really. with a low mash temp and all that sugar it is pretty much where it should be. I have one going right now that had an OG of 1.097 and is at 1.012 after 2 weeks.

You would have been better off leaving it in the primary for longer to clean up and age. Belgians do benefit from aging. Now that you are on the oak chips you have to decide how long you want to leave them there. Not optimum bottling a Belgian this fast, but you seem to have no choice if the gravity is stable., because you probably don't want to leave them on the oak for too long.

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I checked again and the gravity is still at 1.010 so it is definitely stable.

Will it still benefit from bulk aging at this point even though it has already been racked too early to a secondary(according to opinion)? If so should I just rack it off the chips and back into the carboy for a couple weeks?

Also, at this stage and under my conditions, what is the major difference between bulk aging it a little longer and it aging in the bottle?

Jayhem said:

1.010 is pretty low for a beer with those adjuncts, I'm sure it's there but for future reference most Belgian yeasts should go 3-4 weeks before you should secondary or bottle since they typically take much longer to reach final gravity and yeast don't clean up the fussel alcohols until after they finish with the fermentable sugars so you may end up with some hot alcohol burn with this one. Let us know how it turns out!

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I am sorry, but this is just plain wrong. You want that recipe to finish around 1.010. And Belgian yeasts do not need to go that long. If you pitch the correct amount of healthy yeast with the right amount of oxygen, they will be done in 10-14 days depending on strain. WLP530 is done in that time frame for me all the time. Even on quads. And if you ferment with the correct amount of yeast, with the correct amount of oxygen at a restrained temperature, you won't get a hot, fusel taste that needs to age out. The idea is to not get create fusels to begin with.

You are fine bottling it now. Your beer can age in the bottle also. Belgians do get better with age for sure. But that doesn't mean you have to leave them sit in the fermentor a long time. The aging we are looking for on these beers is more a function of micro oxidation, and melanoidin reactions. These reactions form that nice dark fruit, rummy, vinous character that is so good in Belgian beers.