Belgian Strong Dark Fermentation time and type help (3787 Trappist High Gravity)

[user 165400]

Hello all. Happy memorial day, hope every one is brewing up something great, or at least drinking something great.

Have a question. Making a belgian Strong Dark that I am using Wyeast Trappist High Gravity. OG was 1.079. This is a smaller batch (2.5 gal when all is said is done). Pitched at 68 and temps got pretty high the first day (almost 80). I brought it back down and its sat at 68 for a week.

I am trying to figure out my fermentation schedule as I've never really brewed a beer this big before. What I tend to do is 3 weeks in primary and 2-4 weeks in bottle. With something this big I know more bottle time will be needed, and possibly secondary. I've also read that Trappist High Gravity is better if you pull it after 2 weeks instead of leaving it for 3 ore more.

so here is what I was wondering. Would 3 weeks in primary and then 3-6 months in bottle be sufficient for a beer this big or style, or am I looking at the possibility of bottle bombs if I do not secondary. Obviously I want this beer to ferment down to 1.010 or more so if I get it there I may not need to worry about bottle bombs, right?

or would this beer do better with something like 2 weeks in primary, 1 - 2 months in secondary and 2-4 months in bottle?

Just wondering as again this is my first bigger beer, and I really do not mind waiting to bring out its flavors, but just not sure which is better, having to pitch more yeast after it sitting in secondary (and how much you would pitch) for bottling or just let it condition in the bottles for half a year or so.

any thoughts / guidance would be appreciated.

oh, and I was thinking of letting the temps raise back up in to the lower 70s or so to finish out either the second week or third week in primary, any one have any experience with 3787 at higher temps?

 

[beergolf]

3787 is a great yeast but it does have its quirks. It will take off fast and then take forever to get the last few points down. So you really need to make sure it is done before you bottle. Ideally you would like to keep it in the high sixties for a few days and yhen slowly ramp up the temp to finish it out.

Your letting it get too hot too quickly and then cooling it down is not the best for this yeast. You may get some fusels. Also Belgian yeasts do not like to be cooled after fermentation starts. It can sometimes cause them to stall. I would give it at least 6-8 weeks before bottling. You can either just leave it in the primary or rack it to secondary if you would like. There was a thread recently where a few poeple complained of gushers with this yeast. t was because they bottled before the last few points of attenuation happened. You are better off erring on the side of caution with this yeast and letting it go a longer time before bottling. Also a BDSA really benefits from age. I never even take the first taste anymore until after 4 months in the bottle.

Give this beer plenty of time, both in the fermenter and in the bottles and it should be good. Hopefully you did not end up with fusels because it got so hot at the beginning.

 

[user 165400]

Thanks so much. Yeah I want to let it sit on bottles for at least 4 - 6 months. The high heat on fermentation was due to weather in Chicago jumping from 50 to 80 one day unexpectedly so it got to hot unexpectedly. I really wanted to keep it at 68 then ramp up slowly but the weather here has been really unpredictable.

So maybe I'll let it sit for another two weeks in primary and see what the gravity is at and if it's low bottle and let those sit until October.

 

[beergolf]

Another two weeks may not be enough. Give it more time than that before bottling.

 

[user 165400]

Great. I'll go ahead and secondary after another week or two in primary. Any advice for pitching some extra yeast when bottling?

 

[mnherky]

I haven't used this specific yeast before but its dangerous to transfer at predetermined times. Take a gravity sample at two weeks and see where it is at. When it gets to your final gravity transfer or bottle

 

[beergolf]

When it gets to your final gravity transfer or bottle

The point I am trying to make is how do you know exactly what your FG is? Brew software gives you a good guestimate but that value is not written in stone. I use this yeast a lot and know that you will think it is done and then it slowly decides to knock off a few more points. The first couple of times I used it I ended up with wayyyy overcarbed brews. Now I just make sure to give it much longer than I think I need to let it finish up before bottling. They are usually bigger brews so the extra time is useful for aging anyway.

 

[rmyurick]

Ditto what beergolf said. And use less priming sugar. And Make sure you save some for 1 year + aging.

 

[beergolf]

I just went through my brew log and for the last 12 brews I have done using this yeast only one was bottled at predicted FG. OF course that was one of the brews that ended up wayyyyy overcarbed. All of the other brews ended up 2-7 points under the predicted FG. The fermentability of the wort detrmines the FG. If you mash low and long you will definitely finish below predicted FG.

I like to control the carbonation to what I like so adding less sugar is not the answer. The answer is making 100% sure that it is fully fermented. Then you can accurately determine the proper amount of sugar to reach the carbonation level you want.

 

[mrdauber64]

If you look at The Pious(Westy 12 clone) recipe on HBT they use this yeast by starting it at 65 and letting it self rise to 83 and hold it there for 5 days. You get more Belgian character out of the yeast at higher temps and it has a better chance to finish dryer.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[user 165400]

Just a note. This is still in fermentors. Going to bottle over holiday weekend. We took gravity and it was close to done if not (don't have numbers with me at work). Going to pitch a little bottle yeast and get them sealed up and we will see how it came out in December. The taste we had of the uncarbed gravity reading was pretty tasty