Fermenting with WLP540 (or Belgian yeast in general)

[Queequeg]

I'm contemplating using WLP540 in my next brew (chocolate stout) and what to encourage maximum ester production to coax out the dark fruit flavors. I want to minimize bubblegum and banana. I also want to minimize phenol production and spices flavours, honey is acceptable.

After consulting BAM the recommendation form other homebrewtalk users seems to be a good one, it has the flavours that work well in Dark beers and has low phenol production compared to other Belgian strains.

A quick review of the chapter of fermentation provided the following insights

-under pitching or over pitching increases ester production
-under aeration increases ester production
-high temperatures increase ester production and minimize phenol production

So how do you folks ferment when using Belgian strains if you want a fruity beer with less evident phenols?

I am currently considering-

-making a massive starter, lets say 1.5million cells/ml/P.
-No addtional aeration beyond pouring the wort into the fermenter (so less than 8ppm).
-Pitching cool at 18C (64F) and then letting it free rise by capping the upper fermentation temperature only, im not sure at what though.

Suggestions of pitching rates, aeration practices and fermentation temperature profiles that you have had success with are very welcome.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

So how do you folks ferment when using Belgian strains if you want a fruity beer with less evident phenols?

As I said elsewhere - forget the label, WLP540 is as Belgian as Nigel Farage.

It may have lived in Belgium for a bit, but it's definitely a British yeast. So it's at no more risk of producing phenols than WLP002, just treat it like a British yeast. This thread is perhaps the best discussion of that. You're broadly on the right lines - pitch coolish, free rise to start with, then keep it coolish and don't give it a chance to clean up.

 

[Queequeg]

As I said elsewhere - forget the label, WLP540 is as Belgian as Nigel Farage.

It may have lived in Belgium for a bit, but it's definitely a British yeast. So it's at no more risk of producing phenols than WLP002, just treat it like a British yeast. This thread is perhaps the best discussion of that. You're broadly on the right lines - pitch coolish, free rise to start with, then keep it coolish and don't give it a chance to clean up.

Hi Northern Brewer,

Whats your source for wlp540 being originally English? I have googled but I can't find much about this yeast, other than online shops selling it.

Thanks for the thread, interesting info about not allowing it to clean up. I move pretty much all my beers with exception of imperials to keg after 7-10 days anyway, and I use an air filter instead if a blowoff to avoid back pressure for high ester producing strains.

 

[Northern_Brewer]

White Labs sequenced the genomes of most of their strains but blinded the results, Suregork and friends figured out what most of them probably were and so White Labs confirmed several of them. On both charts you'll see WLP540 at about "3.30" in amongst a subgroup of British Group 1 strains that includes Ringwood, Bedford and WLP013 London, and closely related to the WLP004 Irish subgroup.

Once you start looking closely at DNA, a lot of the traditional thoughts about yeast start to break down - that same sequencing efforts showed WLP800 Pilsner is an ale yeast related to WLP029 Kolsch, and that there's commercial lagers being made with saison yeast.

 

[Queequeg]

wow, some interesting stuff. But this does beg the question, if WLP540 is the same used in the Rochefort brewery then how much of the ester profile associated with 8 and 10 a product of Belgian yeast practices and how much is related to the strain?

 

[Northern_Brewer]

Don't forget that even if WLP540 is one of the strains from a Rochefort bottle, then it will have mutated somewhat since it was isolated. More importantly, old European breweries tend to be brewing with multistrains, so there may be a vital component of the flavour that's provided by one of the other strains in the mix. And just being cultured by yeast labs seems to push yeast in a more neutral direction, both on a decade-scale, and also whilst being propagated for retail sale, they tend to open up a bit after the first repitch. People have certainly remarked on WLP002 being restrained compared to "real" Fuller's (assuming that's what it is).

So apart from that - the end flavour is a bit of both. But you're not trying to clone Rochefort at the moment, just enjoy WLP540 for what it is, and see how it gets on with your beer.

 

[nrjones89]

My advice is to never underpitch, even for estery styles. IME, it is easy to overstress the yeast and end up with a poorly balanced beer. It's better to play with temperatures if you want more esters. That way you have a little bit of control over it.

 

[Comfort_Zone]

What I've found works best for a lot of Belgians is slightly underpitching a vitality starter. I don't usually aim to get a ton of growth as I've got the beer for that so I can get all those tasty esters. Temp is your friend though, and letting it free rise is a good place to start.