WLP400 Slow go

Okay so i pitched directly into the primary (70 degrees) no starter as i always do and have no issues. This time i made a nice whit about 1.046 OG and 24 hrs after pitching its burping aobut every 15 secs steady temp at 72 degrees.

I know its a slow mover but this is killing me... I have read about some folks giving the primary a swirl every few days... another action i'm not confortable with.. wondering what the Forums feelings are with this situation.

I have had a wit fermenting with wlp 400 for over a week now, every time I give the primary a swirl she bubbles for another day. It is about time I take a gravity reading, however.

Let me know how it did... swirling could produce bubbles due to aggrivating the wort and causing more HEAD.. no? Sort of like when you shake a beer before opening... obviously its not carbed.. but...

I'm curious how far along it is.. i'm looking to have mine on july 3rd for a BBQ... needs to be done by next wednesday.

You want the beer ready by the 3rd and you used wlp400? Good luck. Every time I use that yeast, it is a minimum 4 weeks in the primary and another 4 weeks in the bottle. That yeast has to be the laziest strain I've used.

Well that's freaking lovely! I just made a 2L starter for a brew day tomorrow and was hoping to be able to drink it in 20 days.

gomb said:

You want the beer ready by the 3rd and you used wlp400? Good luck. Every time I use that yeast, it is a minimum 4 weeks in the primary and another 4 weeks in the bottle. That yeast has to be the laziest strain I've used.

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what was your OG?.. Mine is just 1.046 or so..

Native302 said:

Well that's freaking lovely! I just made a 2L starter for a brew day tomorrow and was hoping to be able to drink it in 20 days.

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I do a big starter (3L) for my annual WLP400 wit, and my keg is flowing in three weeks. I don't know what all this carboy swirling is about -- damn yeast stays in suspension forever. I couldn't even properly cold-crash my starter the first time I brewed with it... in the whole thing went! Keep it warm, aerate as you should, and pitch as much damn yeast as possible.

OK that makes me feel a little better. I'll aerate the hell out of it then.

I would have told u to use wlp410 instead, had u asked!

400 is slow, and I think 410 makes a much better Wit FWIW.

yeah still going strong and its day 3... i'm hoping to keg at 12 days. Next time i'll make sure i have the extra time.

I recently did a Belgian Witbier with WLP400. Pretty similiar to your batch: SG 1.040, no starter, fermented at 68F. Below is a graph of the bubble rate through my fermentation:



It is good to hear that you are going strong at day 3. I try not to put too much into my bubble rate, but being a good beer nerd I collect any and all information about my brews that I can.

I'd be interested to hear how your fermentation finishes out.

Good luck!

THats awesome... so did you finish on the 15th? I checked it this morning and I had Krausen in the airlock very little but the activity was bubbling every 10 secs. This strain is definately the weirdest I've used.

I'll take a gravity reading this Saturday at 7 days...

I only did Primary on this one so I had it in the fermenter for 15 days, but the graph shows the active fermentation. The bubble rate after the first 8 days was erratic and negligible.

just checked it again its going nuts... bubbles every 3-4 sec's... I need to start fermenting my primary in glass so i can watch the fireworks!... I dont want to kill this topic but I think many should know what they are getting into with this strain. So weird.

i used wlp 400 for my wit and it took 14 days to fully finish.I let it ferment at 72-74 degrees and got some good funk.I will use it again,I don't mind a slow methodical fermentation,and i keep my brew at least 3 weeks in primary any ways.

okay... so 7 days in i decided to take a G-Reading... i was amazed that it read 1.010 after what everyone here said... I wanted to clear it just a little bit so i decided to secondary it. Hopefully i'll get the little fellas to act up a bit more and get under 1.010 by next wednesday but doubtful... I tried some of the brew at this stage and it wasnt bad.. definately will need some aging.

Is this bad? that i seen different results than most?

Dr1nkBeer said:

okay... so 7 days in i decided to take a G-Reading... i was amazed that it read 1.010 after what everyone here said... I wanted to clear it just a little bit so i decided to secondary it. Hopefully i'll get the little fellas to act up a bit more and get under 1.010 by next wednesday but doubtful... I tried some of the brew at this stage and it wasnt bad.. definately will need some aging.

Is this bad? that i seen different results than most?

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Nah this is not a bad thing. Mine did end up finishing at 1.008 after a total of 10 days, but it was the first time I actually checked it. Prior to that it was still bubbling but I cannot confirm that it was fermenting or if it was just letting out CO2 and had been sitting at 1.008 for a few days.

I have let it sit in the primary so far, then I think I am going to keg mine today!

sweet... yea i plan on kegging mine on wednesday and having some over the weekend... hense the name... "Fireworks Wheat"...

Thanks.

Dr1nkBeer said:

just checked it again its going nuts... bubbles every 3-4 sec's... I need to start fermenting my primary in glass so i can watch the fireworks!... I dont want to kill this topic but I think many should know what they are getting into with this strain. So weird.

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a watched carboy never ferments.

eastoak said:

a watched carboy never ferments.

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I watched some craziness (volcanic) in some carboys on youtube. big hunks of yeast moving around... but i get your point... let it be and and wait.

Wanted to let you know the beer turned out great... took it on the road with a CO2 kit man was it a hit.

time to make more!

Also thought I'd share...

Pitched a young vial of WLP400 in a 6 gallon batch of 1.040 OG Belgian Blonde @ 64°F. Fermentation took off within 24 hours and blew out within 48 hours -- the strain produces a creamy, thick, & smooth krausen that does a great job of clogging airlocks, blowoffs, & tubing. Also tastes pretty good for krausen. Removed to room temp (low to mid 70°s) after 5 days and it blew out again. I'm guessing the temp change and rousing while moving kicked off a second round of krausening. Roused the yeast on day #10 again which resulted in yeast another round of krausening which almost blew out again. I plan on checking gravity this evening but the wort has been churning since day #2.

Overall a very different yeast vs other ale strains and other Belgian strains. Like others have said, the yeast is indeed 'lazy' and is a slow fermenter which I usually don't associate with Belgian yeast. Rousing may decrease fermentation time, but it'll also kick off heavy krausen generation that can make a mess. I wasn't expecting a 2/3-week journey to FG but that looks like what I'm gonna get.

I will say that the flavor and aroma is excellent during fermentation. I expect a great brew whenever the yeast gets around do doing it's job

Since sharing is caring...

I cooked up a Belgian Honey Wit on Oct. 14 and pitched a 1.6L starter of this WLP400. OG 1.050ish (maybe 1.052), fermented at 70 degrees. I came home the next night to an overflowed airlock (you're right about clogging, rhamilton) so I rigged up a blowoff tube, drama avoided. Thought I had enough headroom. During fermentation there were strong bubblegum/banana/fruit/clove aromas from the airlock. Cracked open the lid last night (18 days in) and there was still a thick krausen, so I left it alone instead of taking a reading. Checked again tonight, and maybe the subtle motion of taking the lid off last night was enough, but the pic below is how it looks now. FG now stands at 1.010, and has a wonderful sweet, freshly-baked bready smell to it. Can't wait for it to finish so I can bottle it up and try it out!

Cheers!


Primaries: White House Honey Ale, Belgian Honey Wit
Secondaries: Scottish Wee Heavy, Devil's Milk barley wine
Bottled: Ex-Pat 1800 historic English Pale Ale
Drinking: India Black Ale, Pumpkin Spice Porter, Nefarious Blonde