Houblon Chouffe terminal gravity...

Hey All,

I brewed something that is supposed to be similar to a Houblon Chouffe DIPA/Tripel clone(not exactly a clone).

I'm wondering if anyone knows that the final gravity of the actual Houblon Chouffe is? I suppose I could stick a hydrometer in a bottle but not sure if carbonation would effect the reading.

The reason why I'm asking is because my beer I believe is at terminal gravity and it's sitting at 1.019 and I was expecting lower then that since I used 2 lbs belgian clear candi sugar syrup from midwest brew supply. It's possible it won't be as dry as I was expecting it, not that it will be bad.

I pitched it on a yeast cake of a 1.040 beer and my OG for the Houblon Chouffe was 1.088 so it should have had plenty of yeast. Fermented for 1 week at 66 and then brought it up to 75 for two weeks.

Any advice. Here is the recipe and notes...

I am brewing similar and will check current gravity tonight. I racked it from primary to secondary yesterday and didnt get a chance to check gravity due to brew in session at the time.

1.019 seems a bit high for FG.

1.019 is way high - regular La Chouffe Houblon finishes around 1.009 (though the OG is a bit lower at 1.078). With 2 lb of simple sugar and that much yeast I can't say what the problem would be. How long was the yeast sitting at the bottom of this carboy before you pitched back on top of it? If it had been weeks, likely your yeast vitality would be quite low.

Also, it's generally a bad brewing practice to pitch anything on top of an entire yeast cake, that will almost always lead to overpitching - and I have heard (namely from the Yeast book by Jamil/Chris) that sometimes when you overpitch you can get a less attenuated beer in the end.

skibb said:

1.019 is way high - regular La Chouffe Houblon finishes around 1.009 (though the OG is a bit lower at 1.078). With 2 lb of simple sugar and that much yeast I can't say what the problem would be. How long was the yeast sitting at the bottom of this carboy before you pitched back on top of it? If it had been weeks, likely your yeast vitality would be quite low.

Also, it's generally a bad brewing practice to pitch anything on top of an entire yeast cake, that will almost always lead to overpitching - and I have heard (namely from the Yeast book by Jamil/Chris) that sometimes when you overpitch you can get a less attenuated beer in the end.

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Interesting. I think I'll take another reading tonight and make sure that is correct. If it really is at 1.019 then I'll either, pitch another fresh pack of Belgian Ardennes into secondary, or possibly hit it with French Saison (but I'd worry that would dry it out too much.)

I replied to this thread because I am currently doing similar brew and under similar conditions. What I did was I dumped by brew on top of existing yeast cake that was in primary for 3 weeks. This was for a regular gravity beer and I left the cake as it since Tripel needs more yeast to start. It took over 12 hours for fermentation to start. My krausen was huge and was touching the neck of the carboy. After 2 weeks the krausen settled down and during 3rd week completely disappeared. Yesterday I did another brew and since it was of lower gravity I dumped 1/2 of the yeast cake and racked new beer on top of it. Within an hour I had new krausen and its pumping now.

I dont think he would overpitch by pitching on the yeast cake a of smaller brew.

I guess the question is....In a 5 gallon batch of beer how much viable yeast is in a typical yeast cake of a 1.040 beer? If I need 310 billion cells for a 1.090 beer how much of that yeast cake would I want to use?

Pivzavod said:

I replied to this thread because I am currently doing similar brew and under similar conditions. What I did was I dumped by brew on top of existing yeast cake that was in primary for 3 weeks. This was for a regular gravity beer and I left the cake as it since Tripel needs more yeast to start. It took over 12 hours for fermentation to start. My krausen was huge and was touching the neck of the carboy. After 2 weeks the krausen settled down and during 3rd week completely disappeared. Yesterday I did another brew and since it was of lower gravity I dumped 1/2 of the yeast cake and racked new beer on top of it. Within an hour I had new krausen and its pumping now.

I dont think he would overpitch by pitching on the yeast cake a of smaller brew.

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It sounds like you and I did the same exact thing! I did do a step mash in order to create a highly fermentable wort which is why I'm wondering why mine is sitting at 1.019 after almost 4 weeks and a portion of that at hot temps.

Here's are my options right now as I see them...
1. My thermometer was off and I actually fermented at a higher mash temp.
2. I over pitched and some how under attenuated because of that (this doesn't seem logical to me)
3. My hydrometer is off.
4. It's not done fermenting yet.

If it really is at 1.019 then I'll either, pitch another fresh pack of Belgian Ardennes into secondary, or possibly hit it with French Saison (but I'd worry that would dry it out too much.)

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I hope you would use a starter b/c pitching straight up with a fresh pack won't get the job done. The environment you are pitching the yeast into is way too hostile - if I were to repitch, I would make a small starter, and right when it has a nice krausen on top (i.e. when its most active) I would dump it into the beer.

A whole 'nother approach is fermentation enzymes. Shea Comfort discusses how to use them here: The Brewing Network.com - :

Basically, by adding small amounts of enzymes and swirling some yeast back up into suspension you can break down some of the bigger sugars into smaller ones so the yeast can more easily consume them. It may take several small doses to reach the desired level of attenuation.

Just checked mine and its at 1.011 with SG of 1.075 after 3 weeks kept at 68-73F.

I'm thinking about pitching a dry packet of nottingham on it tonight to help dry it out. Any suggestions for me. What would you do if you were me and you wanted to dry this beer out a bit?

I would shake the carboy / bucket a few times a day and raise the temperature for a few days. You should also be using a secondary for this big beer and you can shave a few points of gravity over time. I am planning on keeping mine in the secondary for at least another month. I tried a small sample yesterday and it needs to mellow out the alcohol taste.

Okay...I feel like a total noob that freaked out. I brought the temp up to 75-77 over 10 days...shook up the carboy periodically and now the gravity is at 1.011. Thanks for all of your help! I was hoping it would end up at little lower, but it's certainly stopped fermenting now, and I'll keg it and enjoy for the holidays! I need to remember to RDWHAHB.

Cheers!

Nick