Anyone ferment with wlp 500 at 74ish? I've never used it before and my fermentation fridge is in the garage and it is HOT. Thought I would give it a bit of a break and ferment my Belgian Pale Ale at 74.
WLP 500 at High Temp?
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GRJBowers
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No personal experience with that yeast but Brew Like a Monk lists the "medium" temperature range at 67-75°F resulting in a spicy, light phenol and fruity flavor profile. Without cooling though, the temperature of fermentation could push it into the "high" range (75-85°F) resulting in a fruity, moderately phenolic and solventy flavor profile.
OP
OP
I do have a fermentation fridge, so it is controlled to some degree. I guess itnis right at that point then where it could get solventy.
secondbase
Well-Known Member
I know this post is old, but I wanted to chime in with some experience I've had with wlp500 (wyeast 1214 is the equivalent, and I've used both). At higher temperatures this yeast is very fruity. I get a heavy banana character, almost a bananas foster flavor. I don't like that character in my belgian styles, so I always ferment under 70º. I know Jamil recommends fermenting this strain in the mid 60's, but I think something like 68º to start, and slowly ramping up to 70-71º over the course of a week is perfect. The banana character will age out with some time, but with something like a pale ale, I wouldn't recommend fermenting this at 74º because you will want to drink the beer relatively fresh. This yeast doesn't throw off fusels at higher temps like some other Belgian strains do (looking at you wlp540/wyeast 1762), but that shouldn't really be an issue with a lower gravity beer. I always recommend fermenting bigger Belgian styes at a lower temperature and keeping the temperature under 70º at all times.
