WLP570 is awesome

I brewed my first Belgian beer ever:

http://www.brewmasterswarehouse.com/recipe/1b0e6a81/shoultzmeyer-brewery-gold-is-strong

I pitched a vial of WLP570, with no starter, to a 1.078 Belgian. I was curious to see what this alledged "underpitching" would do, especially since I added the sugar to the boil and not during fermentation like some people recommend. After 3 weeks at 68 degrees, it had dropped to 1.023. Warmed it up to 74 degrees for another week, and it is now 1.015 and still dropping.

The recipe is extremely simple, and really brings out the flavor of this yeast strain, and it is delicious. There is a subtle banana/fruit flavor, but is equally matched by a nice spicyness.

I have always preferred IPAs to Belgians, but have never really been able to brew a great IPA. Unless I just got lucky, it almost seems easier to brew a good Belgian beer as a homebrewer. Maybe the phenols/esters of Belgian strains are better at hiding minor imperfections in homebrewing techniques. Either way, I am hooked on brewing Belgians, and will use WLP570 again without hesitation!

Anyone have a good recommendation for a Belgian Dark Strong Ale?

I've got my first big beer going right now with the WLP570. No previous experience with it (other than drinking Duvel etc.). It's very slow going. I pitched into a Golden Strong at 1.082 at 65F back on 11-13 and let it get up to about 74.

Racked to secondary last night and expect it to continue dropping for a while. Both my hydrometers are off I'm sure but it appeared to be down to about 1.020. It was hard to get a good reading as there was so much yeast in suspension (like a lot a lot). Nice tropical fruit nose and lots of alchohol evident which I hope will mellow some with time. I figure I'll check it again about Christmas. Shooting for a FG of about 1.007.

If by 11-13 you mean Nov 13th, then it's only been 10 days. I would say that going from 1.082 to 1.020 in 10 days is pretty good for this yeast. I bet you won't have to wait until xmas to check gravity again. Definitely have to wait until xmas to drink it though! Probably longer than that, although I have to admit that the samples I've tasted are pretty yummy, and if I could clear the yeast and carbonate, it would make a decent beer already. I anticipate a LONG time for the yeast to fall out while crash cooling.

A good homebrew IPA requires compromise. IMO homebrew culture tends to overhop and dry hop beers.

Dry hopping oxidizes beer to a certain degree. We as homebrewers are not entitled to the best hops as those who contract thousands upon thousands of pounds of hops. We are left with what we get.

If you want to improve your homebrew IPA then I suggest you boil your hops more and dry hop less.

For a good belgian I recommend you try everything you can find in your area. Belgian beers that are on the market can vary a great deal. The past three bottles of belgian beer that I bought have been corked. It must be bad luck.

My only advice is to remember belgian beer is about yeast not hops. The less hops you use the better. You can boil longer for bitter...but keep it simple...Calculate for 10IBUS and the yeast profile will really shine through.

We as homebrewers are not guaranteed the same consistency as big professional brew houses. I mean we don't get exact specifications in hops and often times our hops are dated much less fresh than our commercial friends.