Slow A$$ belgian yeast

[ChefBrew]

Hey everybody. I'm on my second belgian beer. This one's a dubbel and once again it is taking forever to ferment. It's been at 1024 for two weeks. I
ve gently rocked it to give the yeast a jump a couple times of times now. Do you think I'm going to have to add more yeast to finish this off? Forgive my impatience. I want to taste my dubbel!

By the way, my previous belgian is a Wit. It tastes a little yeasty. Maybe from the fluctuating temps during ferment. Anyway, Cheers.

 

[carnevoodoo]

Which yeast did you use and what temp are you at?

 

[ChefBrew]

I used white labs 530. The temps recently have fluxed between 55 and 75. Pretty good temps if you ask me, at lest compared to last few months.

 

[carnevoodoo]

I used white labs 530. The temps recently have fluxed between 55 and 75. Pretty good temps if you ask me, at lest compared to last few months.

Yeah. With that yeast I like to start around 68 and then ramp up to about 80 over time. It is a very stubborn yeast though, so if it got too low, it could have gone dormant. I'd swirl it and try to warm it up to 75+ and see what happens. I just made a dubbel with that same yeast and I got it to 1.012.

 

[Kauai_Kahuna]

I think we need a sticky "Warning" about lazy Belgian yeast!
I would recommend attempting to control the temp shifts, wrap it up in blankets, put it in a large cooler, etc. Those are some significant shifts there.
I'm still kind of upset that it throws off my brewing schedule, Then at times it just changes taste between month 3 to 5, to the point if you drink it three weeks apart you would swear it is a totally different beer.
It would be nice to have a spreadsheet like thing with yeast, OG, IBU, timeline for brewing, conditioning, and drinking time.
Maybe with a few more years I'll have enough notes to make one up for myself, but do any Belgian longtime brewers have their personal notes around to debate it out?

 

[ChefBrew]

I guess to me, even though it's driving me crazy waiting for this beer, I'm looking forward to an excellent beer. It takes time to make things taste good; and I mean with depth. It's kind of like cooking sometimes. Anyhow hope it's ready by Christmas.

 

[Hammy71]

This thread kinda stole my thunder/question..... I've had my Hoegaarden clone going for a week (only my 2nd brew) and the airlock is still going pretty strong (every 6 seconds) at 1.014 and 66 degrees. I used the Belgian Wit ale WLP400 with my AHS kit. Now most post say to leave in primary because wits are supposed to be cloudy...but....I have pretty big chunks of gunk still flying around in the carboy with about an inch of crap on top....Should I move it to secondary?.....I plan on brewing a cream stout black friday and I kinda need the 6 gallon carboy for that........I searched and read that the Belgian yeasts are slow...but wow.....

 

[carnevoodoo]

This thread kinda stole my thunder/question..... I've had my Hoegaarden clone going for a week (only my 2nd brew) and the airlock is still going pretty strong (every 6 seconds) at 1.014 and 66 degrees. I used the Belgian Wit ale WLP400 with my AHS kit. Now most post say to leave in primary because wits are supposed to be cloudy...but....I have pretty big chunks of gunk still flying around in the carboy with about an inch of crap on top....Should I move it to secondary?.....I plan on brewing a cream stout black friday and I kinda need the 6 gallon carboy for that........I searched and read that the Belgian yeasts are slow...but wow.....

Do not move it. It is not done. Even if the krausen dropped, I wouldn't move this beer another week or so.

 

[carnevoodoo]

Also, only a week isn't really all that long. If you're too cool with some Belgian yeast, you're looking at a month on the yeast.

 

[Hammy71]

Yeah...I'm not in any rush...just never seen a Belgian crawl before.... I have no problem with the self-control... My first brew was bottled last week after over 3 weeks in the primary and I've not gone near it.... Just wanted an "OK" that it was normal I guess...

thanks,,

 

[dontman]

This thread kinda stole my thunder/question..... I've had my Hoegaarden clone going for a week (only my 2nd brew) and the airlock is still going pretty strong (every 6 seconds) at 1.014 and 66 degrees. I used the Belgian Wit ale WLP400 with my AHS kit. Now most post say to leave in primary because wits are supposed to be cloudy...but....I have pretty big chunks of gunk still flying around in the carboy with about an inch of crap on top....Should I move it to secondary?.....I plan on brewing a cream stout black friday and I kinda need the 6 gallon carboy for that........I searched and read that the Belgian yeasts are slow...but wow.....

Don't move it all. In your searches I'm sure you've also seen that there is no benefit from secondarying this type of beer. Leave it on the yeast until bottling day.

I experienced the crawling yeast on my wit also btw. Took 3 1/2 weeks to get to FG. I let it sit another 2 weeks and bottled.

Just started drinking it yesterday. Yay.

 

[ChefBrew]

Hey all, It's been a while since I posted this originally. My dubbel is still at 1020. It's been over a month, I think. I guess I need to add more yeast to it. I'm also thinking of ways to warm it up a little. I assume the temp needs to be closer to 80F to finish. Any thoughts from the Masters around here?