gio
Well-Known Member
I'm planning on brewing a Westvleteren 12 clone and I'm working on figuring out how much yeast (Wyeast 3787) I should pitch.
It's a high gravity beer (OG 1.092) so I want to make sure I pitch enough. At the same time I've heard that underpitching will cause the yeast to develop more esters which is what is desired in this style of beer. On the other hand, breweries such as Ommegang overpitch yeast and get the same effect. I've also read that I shouldn't aerate the wort for the same reason. The lack of oxygen will strain the yeast and cause more ester production. Again, I'm scared to do so on such a high gravity beer.
Mr Malty's calculator recommends 1.5 liters of shaken starter for my 3.3 gallon batch. I'm thinking about perhaps going as low as 1 liter. Anyone have any experience with belgian yeast strains and getting them to produce the esters you want? I made my first Belgian (OG 1.072) with 2 Wyeast smack packs, fermented warm, and got almost no fruity esters at all.
It's a high gravity beer (OG 1.092) so I want to make sure I pitch enough. At the same time I've heard that underpitching will cause the yeast to develop more esters which is what is desired in this style of beer. On the other hand, breweries such as Ommegang overpitch yeast and get the same effect. I've also read that I shouldn't aerate the wort for the same reason. The lack of oxygen will strain the yeast and cause more ester production. Again, I'm scared to do so on such a high gravity beer.
Mr Malty's calculator recommends 1.5 liters of shaken starter for my 3.3 gallon batch. I'm thinking about perhaps going as low as 1 liter. Anyone have any experience with belgian yeast strains and getting them to produce the esters you want? I made my first Belgian (OG 1.072) with 2 Wyeast smack packs, fermented warm, and got almost no fruity esters at all.