Wyeast 1762 Question

I'm making an Belgian IPA using Wyeast 1762 (Belgian Abbey II, Rochefort I believe). Pitched late last night. Bubbling nicely early this AM. But this afternoon it started to emit a funkier smell than I am used to (though I haven't used this yeast or made a beer with this much hops before). It smells like malt and hops (of course) but also sulphury/sour... like making cider. I'm assuming this is natural but what is the expert opinion?

I've read that some yeasts produce more sulphury odors than others... is 1762 one of them?

Yes, you're using a Belgian yeast strain, so it is going to emit more sulphur-like smells as well as some of those real fruity ester aromas. It sounds like all is normal, it is just the character of the yeast strain you chose to use for this particular batch. IPA ingredients with an abbey yeast strain should produce something quite interesting and unique. I'd like to hear how the finished product turns out!

Thanks. I figured: I like Belgian's, I like IPA's, why not blend 'em. I had a bottle of Green Flash's Le Freak and that further convinced me that the style can work. We'll see how my version comes out. Recipe below if you're interested:

7 lbs Belgian Pilsner
4 lbs Belgian Pale
1 lb Crystal 40L
2 lb cane sugar
1 oz Chinook (60 min)
1 oz Cascade (5 min)
1 oz Cascade (flameout)
Wyeast 1762

Yes, Le Freak is definitely an awesome brew. Looks like you have makings of an interesting brew especially with the addition of the cane sugar. The cane sugar is ~17% of your total fermentables, so it might come out a bit cider-like. Of course this may compliment the fruitiness of the yeast nicely. If it doesn't turn out how you want, I'd just malt it up a bit and hit about 100 IBUs. Looking at Le Freaks stats, they're at 9.2 ABV and 100 IBUs...you may the maltiness to add to the overall complexity of blended style such as this. Let me know how it goes!

There was quite a bit of debate over cane sugar vs. candi sugar vs. invert sugar (See thread https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/belgian-ipa-recipes-149730/)

I'll definitely post results.

So I've had this brew in primary for 17 days with 1762. Pitched a quart-size starter and fermentation was fast and furious for the first week. The beer is still really cloudy. Gravity is only down to 1.020 (started at 1.085). I hope this will still drop a few points but the attenuation for 1762 is listed as 73-77% and I think I'm at 76% right now (if I did the math correctly).

So is this done, will this still get lower? The taste is pretty off still - but the beer is way too young to really know how it will come out. I'm torn between bottling and letting it condition, or keeping it on the yeast cake another week or two....

Another week on the cake - and give it a swirl to rouse the yeast.

+1 on that...I'd give it another week after rousing the yeast and see where your gravity it is at. If it hasn't budged, you can then rack it to secondary and let it condition a bit. Do you plan on dry hopping?

I'm brewing a small batch right now with this yeast, and I hadn't noticed the sulphury smell 'til just now (about two days into fermentation). This is my first time brewing a Belgian, so I'm quite interested to see how it turns out. Ordinarily I'd bottle after 14 days or so -- one gallon makes it hard to check gravity -- but perhaps I'll leave it another week and swirl like you guys suggest.

The sulphur smell didn't hit me until a day or so as well and was strongest (noticeable throughout the room and not just if I sniffed near the airlock) at 48 hours. I usually let my beers sit on the cake for 21 days (I don't secondary). With this beer I ended up letting it go another week or so and since it is an IPA, I decided to dry-hop during this time. Finally bottled on Monday. Gravity dropped a touch 1.019. Flavor improved significantly. Just goes to show that the yeast will clean up afterthemselves if you let them.

In my limited experience there is no harm, and usually some benefit, to letting the beer condition for an extra week.

If you rack it to secondary, a very small amount of oxygen can be introduced, which might help with attenuation but shouldn't contribute at all to oxidation. This is usually pretty beneficial for high gravity beers. Keep in mind that you not only have lots of IBUs, but lots of alcohol, so you'll probably need to sit on it for about a month longer than you're used to.

This yeast strain is fairly clean for a Belgian, probably is ideal for a hoppy beer. I'm curious how this turns out when it's fully conditioned.

I will definitely be posting results. This is my first attempt at AG and the first recipe I formulated on my own (with plenty of input on this forum), so I'm eager to taste the finished product.

I brewed a batch this past Saturday afternoon using this same yeast. It was fermenting as normal within 24 hours. I went to work Monday morning and checked on it and everything was looking good. When i got home from work, which would have been 48 hours after i pitched the yeast I had a very strong sulphur smell, in fact I thought my sewer vent was plugged. This morning thankfully it seems much better

harley1 said:

I brewed a batch this past Saturday afternoon using this same yeast. It was fermenting as normal within 24 hours. I went to work Monday morning and checked on it and everything was looking good. When i got home from work, which would have been 48 hours after i pitched the yeast I had a very strong sulphur smell, in fact I thought my sewer vent was plugged. This morning thankfully it seems much better

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Did you add yeast nutrients to the batch?

Saccharomyces said:

Did you add yeast nutrients to the batch?

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No I did not add anything. The sulphur smell is gone now. Will be second fermenting this coming Saturday

Cool I'm sure it's fine. I just wondered sometimes yeast nutrients if added (which you didn't use) can cause that. As long as it's gone by now, you should be fine. I've had some sulphur from another Belgian strain before that was pretty nasty.

Saccharomyces said:

Cool I'm sure it's fine. I just wondered sometimes yeast nutrients if added (which you didn't use) can cause that. As long as it's gone by now, you should be fine. I've had some sulphur from another Belgian strain before that was pretty nasty.

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Was the smell nasty or the taste of your beer?

Any updates on how this beer turned out?