Belgian not going crazy

[rtb178]

Do Belgians *always* go crazy in the fermenter? I made a Belgian Golden Strong yesterday evening.

@60 3.5 lb Pilsner DME
3 oz Saaz
@15 1 oz Saaz
@10 4 lb Pilsner DME
@5 2.5lb Cane Sugar

Cooled to ~65, and added a WLP570 yeast starter (1L) that had been brought to room temperature (~70) over the course of the afternoon. A small starter, I know, but I wanted the yeast to work and produce nice esters.

Anyway, I fitted a blow off tube, and the tube is happily bubbling every second. It's not aggressively bubbling, much less violently bubbling like I've heard this brew might do. I'm planning to give this one 5 weeks or so in the fermenter before I bottle and conditon for another 4 weeks. Anything I should worry about, or any thoughts on my process?

Thanks.

 

[daksin]

Every fermentation is different. You never know what they're going to do. I'm sure you'll be fine. It's not really that big of a beer, so you wouldn't expect it to go nuts. Big blowoffs usually come from a combination of big beer + lots of yeast + lots of O2.

 

[helibrewer]

You should be fine...how many days has it been fermenting?

Also, sucrose is a nonreducing sugar and will not undergo Maillard reactions so you can add it anywhere in the boil without darkening issues.

 

[slarkin712]

I would say that it is big beer, probably around 1.089, so it should ferment aggressively. Also, with so much sugar it should tear right through them. Usually in the first 2-3 days is when it will be fermenting fastest. If your yeast was fresh and you did your yeast starter you did underpitch by about a third, but that's not too bad. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[rtb178]

Thanks everyone for your comments. I'm trying to keep it cold for the first day or so, and then bring it up to room temperature (72) before the end of the third day. It's just the first day of the ferment. I think I was just more worried about the lid blowing off of this thing than anything, so was surpirsed to see fermentation happening at a comparatively reasonable rate.

 

[helmingstay]

5 weeks on the cake at 72F sounds like a bit of time... Personally, I'd pull it off the cake into secondary after 2 or 3 weeks, but that's just me. Anyone else? How long is too long in primary?

EDIT:
Apparently, plenty of folks get away with 5 weeks primary no problems. A thread for the ages: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/secondary-not-john-palmer-jamil-zainasheff-weigh-176837/