Hennepin clone fermentation temp?

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pabloj13

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I have been on a yeast culturing kick recently and just cultured the yeast from the bottom of an Ommegang Hennepin bottle. Going to brew up a clone with 8 lbs of pilsner, 3lbs of 2-row and 2 pounds of table sugar with an ounce of Styrian Goldings at 60' and an ounce of Saaz at 10 minutes (with grated ginger and bitter orange). I know I want to keep this yeast warmer than most ale yeasts, but what do you guys think would be an optimum fermentation profile for this beer? I think in my current setup I can get the beer up to ~80 just by opening the vent to the bathroom I have taken over for brewing. I also have a rope tub/swamp cooler.
 
idk the answer but how did you step the yeast?

Pitched the dregs from 2 750mL bottles into ~200mL of 1.020 wort. It took a LONG time to show activity (4 days or so). Stepped up into 1L of 1.020. Cold crashed and pitched into 1L of 1.040 on a stir plate.
 
I pulled some yeast from 3 bottles of Ommegang Witte. I then went on Ommegang's website and found the e-mail for the brewmaster. I asked him what temp they ferment Witte at. He responded within a day and told me they ferment that beer in the mid 20's C (about 77 F).
 
I pulled some yeast from 3 bottles of Ommegang Witte. I then went on Ommegang's website and found the e-mail for the brewmaster. I asked him what temp they ferment Witte at. He responded within a day and told me they ferment that beer in the mid 20's C (about 77 F).

Interesting. Thanks! So you think I should just keep it there the whole time? I know some raise it slowly at the end.

Also, how did that yeast do for you?
 
I started mine around 70 and let it move up to 76 -77 (ambient was around 70-72). I did 2 batches of Witte with that yeast and I thought they turned out very well. The next time I make a Witte, I intend to try the White labs equivalent and see if there is any difference.
 
I started mine around 70 and let it move up to 76 -77 (ambient was around 70-72). I did 2 batches of Witte with that yeast and I thought they turned out very well. The next time I make a Witte, I intend to try the White labs equivalent and see if there is any difference.

:mug: Thanks!
 
I started mine around 70 and let it move up to 76 -77 (ambient was around 70-72). I did 2 batches of Witte with that yeast and I thought they turned out very well. The next time I make a Witte, I intend to try the White labs equivalent and see if there is any difference.

There's a white labs equivalent to ommegang? Which yeast is it?
 
How did this work out for you? Also, I'm completely inexperienced culturing yeast but would love to give this a try. Question about your process: why the cold crash step? Did you cold crash it and then pitch both all the liquid and all the yeast that crashed out, or just the yeast cake or just the liquid?

I have been on a yeast culturing kick recently and just cultured the yeast from the bottom of an Ommegang Hennepin bottle. Going to brew up a clone with 8 lbs of pilsner, 3lbs of 2-row and 2 pounds of table sugar with an ounce of Styrian Goldings at 60' and an ounce of Saaz at 10 minutes (with grated ginger and bitter orange). I know I want to keep this yeast warmer than most ale yeasts, but what do you guys think would be an optimum fermentation profile for this beer? I think in my current setup I can get the beer up to ~80 just by opening the vent to the bathroom I have taken over for brewing. I also have a rope tub/swamp cooler.
 
How did this work out for you? Also, I'm completely inexperienced culturing yeast but would love to give this a try. Question about your process: why the cold crash step? Did you cold crash it and then pitch both all the liquid and all the yeast that crashed out, or just the yeast cake or just the liquid?

Well I learned some lessons on this one. Generally yeast harvesting has gone very well for me. This particular batch, I should have paid more attention to the fact that my starters were not fully attenuating. Whatever I cultured wasn't the Ommegang yeast. I ended up pitching Wyeast 3711 "the Destroyer" on top of it to finish it out. So my new criteria for successful culturing are:

1) The creamy yeast layer grows
2) No off smells, tastes, or odd growths
3) Fully attenuated

As for cold crashing, I grow my starters pretty warm, so the yeast will throw off all sorts of nasty esters. So I cold crash overnight, pour off the spent wort leaving just enough to resuspend the yeast, and just pitch the yeast.
 
Thanks for the reply. Do you think it was something to do with Hennepin in particular or is it more of bad luck with this batch sort of thing?
I actually recently read something about Ommegang often using a bottling yeast that is different from the fermenting yeast. I'm not sure if they do this for the Hennepin but if they do, I guess it would mess up the culturing process since you would be getting both yeasts.
Has anyone else tried this?

Well I learned some lessons on this one. Generally yeast harvesting has gone very well for me. This particular batch, I should have paid more attention to the fact that my starters were not fully attenuating. Whatever I cultured wasn't the Ommegang yeast. I ended up pitching Wyeast 3711 "the Destroyer" on top of it to finish it out. So my new criteria for successful culturing are:

1) The creamy yeast layer grows
2) No off smells, tastes, or odd growths
3) Fully attenuated

As for cold crashing, I grow my starters pretty warm, so the yeast will throw off all sorts of nasty esters. So I cold crash overnight, pour off the spent wort leaving just enough to resuspend the yeast, and just pitch the yeast.
 
do you folks know for sure that ommegang uses the same yeast in their Wit and their Hennepin? hennepin is a saison so i'd expect them to use a different yeast. saison yeasts are typically fermented at a higher temp, so the Wit's temps might not be what is needed...
 
I believe that Ommegang uses the same strain (the Duvel) for all their beers. I did a hennepin clone a month or so back, and harvested the yeast out of two bottles.

It took a long time for the starter to show any activity, but it finally took off. I kept boosting the temps up towards 80 after the first week or so, and i was able to get it ferment down to about 1.010 so i was pretty happy.

Still in the carboy....so we'll see how it turned out.
 
Oh huh, I didn't know that they used the same yeast for all of them. Have you tried yours yet? I keep going back and forth one whether or not harvesting is the way to go, given the risk that I'd just be harvesting a bottling yeast rather than their fermenting yeast. Let me know how yours turns out!

I believe that Ommegang uses the same strain (the Duvel) for all their beers. I did a hennepin clone a month or so back, and harvested the yeast out of two bottles.

It took a long time for the starter to show any activity, but it finally took off. I kept boosting the temps up towards 80 after the first week or so, and i was able to get it ferment down to about 1.010 so i was pretty happy.

Still in the carboy....so we'll see how it turned out.
 
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