Belgian Ale with WLP 570 revolutionary idea???

I had an idea.

What if, an impatient brewer decided to speed up the slower process of reaching final gravity from a Belgian yeast like WLP 570, by adding some US-05 to the batch after 2 weeks?

Would this speed up the time to get to final gravity?

Since US-05 is pretty neutral, would it be neutral enough to not effect the taste?

Has anyone ever done this before?

rmb said:

I had an idea.

What if, an impatient brewer decided to speed up the slower process of reaching final gravity from a Belgian yeast like WLP 570, by adding some US-05 to the batch after 2 weeks?

Would this speed up the time to get to final gravity?

Since US-05 is pretty neutral, would it be neutral enough to not effect the taste?

Has anyone ever done this before?

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No, because I never had WLP570 take two weeks to finish a beer.

highgravitybacon said:

No, because I never had WLP570 take two weeks to finish a beer.

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Okay. I have been reading up on these Belgian yeasties and I see a common response that the gravity gets stuck, so it requires longer wait time. Any thoughts on that? Or do you just raise the temp until you hit FG?

rmb said:

Okay. I have been reading up on these Belgian yeasties and I see a common response that the gravity gets stuck, so it requires longer wait time. Any thoughts on that? Or do you just raise the temp until you hit FG?

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I don't think that's typical. Here's the thing, the people for whom things go well don't post on forums to tell you how it went well. The people who have issues turn to the forums to report these issues. This makes it appear that many people have problems, when in fact the people with issues are a very vocal minority.

Make a proper starter, pitch healthy yeast, and manage your temps. For WLP570, I made a golden strong. It has done very well in competitions, never scoring less than 37. I started it at 62F and held it there for a few (2-3) days then slowly raised the temp about 2 degrees per day until I got to 80F where I held it for a few days until gravity was reached.

highgravitybacon said:

I don't think that's typical. Here's the thing, the people for whom things go well don't post on forums to tell you how it went well. The people who have issues turn to the forums to report these issues. This makes it appear that many people have problems, when in fact the people with issues are a very vocal minority.

Make a proper starter, pitch healthy yeast, and manage your temps. For WLP570, I made a golden strong. It has done very well in competitions, never scoring less than 37. I started it at 62F and held it there for a few (2-3) days then slowly raised the temp about 2 degrees per day until I got to 80F where I held it for a few days until gravity was reached.

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Good point and thanks for the pointers.

The one Belgian that seems to experience problems with semi-regularity is WLP565/Wyeast 3724. The most frequently discussed solutions seem to be letting the temperature rise just 2-5 degF or adding just a teaspoon of a second Belgian yeast (Wyeast 3711 French Saison is a favorite). So the cure, when this does happen, is usually a pretty mild nudge.

That was a little harsher response than someone here with 700+ posts will generally give to someone with 7. Don't let that stop you from asking more questions in the future.

Back to the issue at hand, yes, you can add a second yeast near the end of fermentation if need be. You're dumping them into a semi-hostile environment, but they should be up to the challenge.

With that said, for many yeasts the better answer is simply to warm them up as they start to slow down. You won't get undesirable ester formation that late in the game and the warmer temps help keep the yeast active.

Don't worry if you don't have a dial-controlled fermentation chamber that lets you auto-ramp things. Just look for signs that the most vigorous fermentation is coming to a close and move the fermenter to a warmer part of your house.

As noted, a healthy starter and good oxygenation will help eliminate problems before they even begin.

Luckily I have a temp controller for my outside garage fridge.

And since I live in Florida, the heat in my garage is above 80 for most of the year, so the heat rise is not hard either.

Thanks for the feedback... my ultimate thought was adding a bit just in case the temp change doesnt work... or as an alternative to potential esters from temp increasing.

But, it looks like using a bit of Belgian is the way to go vs the cheaper US-05. Perhaps an experiment is due? Always need an excuse to try different techniques.

Double post issue.

Ester formation primarily happens at the beginning of fermentation. You can ramp comfortably at the end without worrying about that.

dogbar said:

Ester formation primarily happens at the beginning of fermentation. You can ramp comfortably at the end without worrying about that.

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Great to know. Thank you.