Advice on how to deal with Belgian Wit Yeast that isn't dropping

[Oslobrew]

Hi Brewers,

I was hoping to get some advice on a small issue I'm having. Here goes the background info. So I'm brewing a receipe from Joy of Homebrewing that has the intent of getting something like a Hoeegarden Grand Cru. 19L batch, with 2.3kg DME and 1kg honey and hops/spices. I use WP400 Belgin Wit yeast. Pitched yeast at 22C and fermentation was at 19-20C and things looked nice and active. So after 1 week I was suprised that the yeast had yet to drop. I took a SG and got around 1.037 (OG = 1.058). I thought the yeast seems a bit slow or maybe the honey takes more work to eat through. Anyway I started checking SG every two days as I was worried about activity stalling and basically the yeast dropped the SG about .002-.003 per day for the subsequent 2 weeks. So finally now just at the 3 week mark the brew is at 1.007 (2 days in a row) but there still is a 1/2 thick layer of yeast floating on the top. I shook the fermenter a bit to try to get it to destabilize and maybe drop but it's staying put.

So after all that background, what do people think I should do about this yeast not dropping. The SG can't drop much more so I think it's done. I'm going to wait 4 (over 3.5 weeks in primary) more days and I want to bottle straight from the primary. I think there is a good chance that the yeast won't drop and I'll need to start bottling with it on top. I'm not fermenting in a carboy so I could start bottling by scooping off the yeast on top?

 

[beerman0001]

Leave it alone for another week cold crash then bottle.

 

[Oslobrew]

Leave it alone for another week cold crash then bottle.

I don't have a refrigerator to cold crash in. Do you think it woudl be effective to leave it outside overnight and then bottle in the morning. Outside temps where I live are 5-9C right now.

thanks

 

[aiptasia]

That should be fine for a cold crash.

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

Reviews on the White Labs site indicate that this yeast is extremely slow to attain target attentuation and is very low to near non-flocculant.

Bottle from under the layer.

 

[UTPhish]

I just kegged a Belgian Wit using WYeast 3944 (similar to WLP400). It took a full 3 weeks to reach FG, but the krausen was still about an inch thick. Three days later the krausen hadn't moved. I gently tilted the bucket a few times to encourage it to drop. A day later the krausen was completely gone. You can try to do this, but don't go crazy tilting your FV. A gentle tilt is all you need.

 

[helibrewer]

I used isinglass on mine but the krausen had already fallen when I did.

 

[Oslobrew]

thought I would follow up on my question to finish this thread. At 3.5 weeks the yeast dropped so really just waiting it out was the best appproach. this yeast is just slow to drop.