Fermentation for Belgian beers?

[Allekornbrauer]

Hello I have a question about fermenting a Belgian blonde. The recipe that I am following say to pitch yeast at 64f an let the temperature rise slowly to 68f over the course of 1 week. So is this telling me to ferment at 64f an hold it there for 48hrs an then ramp up by 1f per day until I at 68f

 

[VikeMan]

The writer of the recipe probably meant for you to allow a "free rise" to 68F and then apply temperature control to keep it there, and they were estimating that it would take about a week to get there (which it probably won't, really, depending on the ambient temp and other factors). The "free rise" is, I would say, fairly common will belgian style fermentation schedules.

But if you do want to control the temp the entire time and go from 64 to 68 over the course of a full week, I'd recommend not keeping it at 64F for two full days, i.e. I'd do it smoothly, unless there is a need to really limit the production of esters.