Belgian Tripel

My second brew was a Williams Extact Belgian Tripel. I used the WYeast smack, single pitch, and left in primary for one month and then transferred to secondary. It has been in Secondary for three weeks and will have to sit another two due to time costaints.

My OG was 1.090. When I transfered to secondary I was at 1.022. Last weekend it was at 1.020.

Just curious if anyone thinks it would be a good idea to toss in about a quarter of a package of Safale US-05 to try and get the gravity down to a 1.01 and hopefully speed up the carbonation process? Or is this a really bad idea since it is not the yeast I originally pitched? I've heard the US-05 is pretty neutral, but I don't want to mess this up with a stupid mistake. Also, If Im only at a gravity of 1.02 when I bottle is there a potential for bottle bombs after adding the priming sugar?

Sorry if this has already been asked. This is my first post. I love this brewing thing! I have to say Im addicted already!

I would leave your FG wherever it ends and save the yeast for another brew.

What was the expected FG for the kit? I would imagine you're done fermenting and adding more yeast won't do anything.

Also did you make a starter? what temperature did you ferment at?

It seems like you underpitched and therefore didnt get the attenuation you wanted. However, in my experiences with extract, I rarely got below 1020. For now, I would leave it alone for a week or so, then check the gravity. If it hasnt changed you are probably done. S05 might not make much of a difference at that point, so I say bottle it as long as the gravity is stable

Thanks for all the input everyone! To answer some questions, I did not use a starter. I only used the pack that came with my kit. I have been fermenting at a constant 68 degrees plus or minus a degree. The kit stated a final gravity of 1.028. So apparently Ive acheived final gravity, but 1.028 seems awful high to me. Is the manufacturer of the kit leaving it that high so that customers are getting carbonation? I guess my only worry is not having enough viable yeast in solution to get carbonation when I bottle. By the time I bottle, it will have been in primary for four weeks and secondary for six. Do you guys think it is ok to bottle or should I add a little more yeast(the S-05)? If I should add more yeast, how much?

Thanks for all the advice!

Final gravity has nothing to do with carbonation. You will still have plenty of yeast to bottle condition. Your average yeast will get 75-80% attenuation. Without running the numbers I would say that you achieved this.

Hi WYO, and welcome to the forum! Have you tasted your gravity samples? If it tastes good, and not cloyingly sweet, it is undoubtedly good to bottle. Especially after ten weeks around 68*!
FG can remain around 1.02 due to unfermentables in the beer. These unfermentable solids will thus not ferment in the bottle, and if you prime with the correct amount of sugar, you won't have bombs.
At ten weeks, you should still have sufficient live yeast in suspension for bottle carbonation. My only worry might be that your alcohol level is >9% ABV if your gravity numbers are right. This one may take a month or two in the bottle to carbonate properly. It seems like you have been very patient, so I hope you can ride that out. And a beer as big as this one will probably improve with ageing!
If you're worried, it probably won't hurt to add half a pack of the S-05 to the bottling bucket with the priming sugar, before racking over. I don't think the flavors developed by the primary yeast will be affected at all by that.
I really hope this one turns out great for you! You already have a lot of time invested in it. Let us know how things go!
Cheers!

Thanks again for all of the input everyone! Cerveza---Thank you! I beleive that I'm just going to ride this one out and let it be! They say patience is a virtue. Brewing is definitely an exercise in it! This forum must be full of some very very virtuous people!

Anyhow, I don't think I'll add the extra yeast. I'll keep you posted on how it turns out!

WYO

Well, I didn't pitch extra yeast. I let the beer sit bottled for a month and it had fantastic carbonation! The beer turned out great already and I can't wait to try it in a few more months! Thanks for the input everyone! No more worrying about what to do with my beer. Just sit back and let the yeast do their magic!

Man I love this brewing business! Round 2 of the Midwest Ferocious IPA tomorrow! That beer is fantastic and matures quickly! Can't wait! I'm going to take it up to share with a bunch of old college buddies in June. They don't beleive that a guy can make good beer at home! Time to show them!

coypoo said:

It seems like you underpitched and therefore didnt get the attenuation you wanted. However, in my experiences with extract, I rarely got below 1020. For now, I would leave it alone for a week or so, then check the gravity. If it hasnt changed you are probably done. S05 might not make much of a difference at that point, so I say bottle it as long as the gravity is stable

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I don't understand why everyone insists that extract recipes cannot go below 1.020. I do partial boil extract recipes and routinely finish where I should. A belgian I recently did went from 1.080 to 1.012. A saison finished at 1.005. My pale ales routinely finish 1.012-1.015 depending on the recipe.

beergolf said:

I don't understand why everyone insists that extract recipes cannot go below 1.020. I do partial boil extract recipes and routinely finish where I should. A belgian I recently did went from 1.080 to 1.012. A saison finished at 1.005. My pale ales routinely finish 1.012-1.015 depending on the recipe.

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I totally agree. I'm by no means an expert, but I have had no trouble getting below 1.015 with any of my extract beers, except for this tripple. The tripple was my own fault though because I underpitched.

Run the numbers...

OG = 1090
FG = 1020

That's 78% attenuation.... I'd say that your yeast did exactly what they should have done. You can't expect to start with such a high OG and get to 1010 unless you use a good amount of sugar in the recipe.

beergolf said:

I don't understand why everyone insists that extract recipes cannot go below 1.020. I do partial boil extract recipes and routinely finish where I should. A belgian I recently did went from 1.080 to 1.012. A saison finished at 1.005. My pale ales routinely finish 1.012-1.015 depending on the recipe.

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It's the AG gestapo spreading lies I've done a few beers that were at or over 1.100 which finished below 1.020 so I know it's a bunch of BS.

WYOBrews said:

Well, I didn't pitch extra yeast. I let the beer sit bottled for a month and it had fantastic carbonation! The beer turned out great already and I can't wait to try it in a few more months! Thanks for the input everyone! No more worrying about what to do with my beer. Just sit back and let the yeast do their magic!

Man I love this brewing business! Round 2 of the Midwest Ferocious IPA tomorrow! That beer is fantastic and matures quickly! Can't wait! I'm going to take it up to share with a bunch of old college buddies in June. They don't beleive that a guy can make good beer at home! Time to show them!

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WYO, over the years we've found the same thing with longer fermentation times especially in brewing high gravity Belgians. Many of the Belgian strains of yeast are very tolerant of high ABV's even over time and if you under-pitch slightly you can force the yeast to produce some amazing flavors. Glad you didn't re-pitch with T-58.

Cheers

Mike
www.candisyrup.com

Since_Uuz_Up said:

WYO, over the years we've found the same thing with longer fermentation times especially in brewing high gravity Belgians. Many of the Belgian strains of yeast are very tolerant of high ABV's even over time and if you under-pitch slightly you can force the yeast to produce some amazing flavors. Glad you didn't re-pitch with T-58.

Cheers

Mike
www.candisyrup.com

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Thank Mike! I left a case in the cellar to share with my wife at the end of the year. We're expecting in July! I've saved a bit of all of my brews since I started in January to share with her. I can't wait to see how this Belgian is at the end of the year though. I'll be sure to post the results! Glad I didn't re-pitch either. I guess patience really is a virtue. Especially with the high ABV beers.

So a question.....I don't have a setup yet to do starters, but it appears my single smack pack pitch on this Belgian did the trick. Is the recomendation of all the brewing companies to double pitch on all of their kits over 1.060 just a money maker for them? Seems that way to me. I don't think I'd double pitch anything unless it was over 1.100 now.

CHEERS!

Not just a money maker - sound advice. http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html is a widely accepted tool for proper pitch rate. For a 1090 beer MrMalty says 3.5 Wyeast packs or WhiteLabs vials (depending on how fresh your yeast is) or an appropriate starter. Really for a beer over 1040 you should make a starter or double pitch.

Starters are easy to do - you don't need a stirplate or an Erlenmeyer flask. I do mine in an empty growler, sanitized foil over the opening. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/how-make-yeast-starter-pictorial-76101/