Belgian yeast experiences (WLP 530, 545, 550, etc)

[gifty74]

Hello. Curious if any of you could be considered 'experts' with Belgian yeasts. Looking for some in depth advice on the various strains that might help me decide on one for an upcoming brew. Looking mainly for experience with the white labs strains. Any tips on flavors you've found at certain temps, finish of the yeast (dry, residual sweetness, etc), any and all info. The website descriptions are very short, so looking for some more real world info. Thanks!

 

[dmtaylor]

Enjoy.

White Labs Belgian Yeast Analysis

 

[gifty74]

Wow, awesome. Thanks for that! Exactly what i was looking for.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

Enjoy.

White Labs Belgian Yeast Analysis

That is really interesting. Saved off a copy. It makes me want to try this myself.

Much of my experience is using WLP530 in Dubbels and Quads. I chuckled a bit at the krausen data chart. That is one that builds a thick and creamy krausen that that will crawl out of even a large headspace. I really like the character I get from WLP530. I tend to pitch at 68F, and let fermentation push to around 76F during active fermentation.

I personally found that WLP500 gave a bit too much of a cherry character that reminds me of cough syrup, but it could have been related to my recipe or process. I made one really nice Blond with Lallemand Abbaye and a nice Trippel with Mangrove Jack M31. I have not brewed myself with with any other White Labs yeasts than 500 and 530, though I love commercial beers from Rochefort (540).

I tend to think that I like a little different character in my darker Belgians (Dubbel and Quad) than in a Trippel, though the Trippel with M31 is the only one of that style I have ever brewed.

 

[mashpaddled]

Might be easier for you to explain what flavors you want from the yeast and match among the strains. There are a lot of Belgian strains out there from the abbey/Trappist, wit, saison and some of the cleaner strains. Lots of strains, not even accounting for the strains white labs rotates through production.

 

[hamachi]

Much of my experience is using WLP530 in Dubbels and Quads. I chucked a bit at the krausen data chart. That is one that builds a thick and creamy krausen that that will crawl out of even a large headspace.

I'll say! Just yesterday I bottled a Westvleteren 8 clone for which I used WLP530. I knew that yeast was a monster, so I brewed up just 3.5 gallons of wort to put into a 6.5 gallon stainless steel fermenter. After I popped the lid yesterday, I could see from the residue that the krausen had peaked at 2 gallons worth of headspace.

Note for the OP: In my experience WLP530 can be very slow to get going -- e.g., 2 days with no evidence of activity. But once it goes, it really goes.

As for taste, I have made beers I really liked with WLP500, WLP530, and WLP550 -- but don't ask me to describe the nuanced differences between them. I made a quad with WLP545 which I liked, but after getting some gushers and learning that it's diastatic, I no longer use it.

 

[gifty74]

Sounds like some similar experiences here. I too really like 550 in a Belgian Dark Strong I have made more than once. Really like the spicier notes from that one. Kept fermentation kinda low (mid 60s) for a while to try and pull out a bunch of spice and it worked really well. Don't know much about the 540, 545 and even 575. They all sound interesting, guess I just need to start a series with them and get to brewing.

 

[Climb]

I used WLP570 recently for a Belgian Blonde and then reused some slurry for a Belgian Golden Strong. Both were delicious. One common problem was the beer never cleared until the last pint or so from each barrel. I use sixth barrel Sanke kegs to serve from and would love to find a floating dip tube solution for Sankes. Both ales had Whirlfloc added with 15 minutes left in the boil, with no other clarifying agents. The cloudiness of the ales isn't to surprising as it is listed as a "low" flocculating yeast.
One other observation for both ales was that fermentation took a long time, like 4 weeks to reach terminal gravity. Fermentation temps started at 68 F and stayed there for 3 days and gradual ramped up to 80 F for the bulk of the fermentation.

 

[pocketmon]

A few brews with WLP530, dubbels and quads. IMO, it does a good job for those styles by balance of esters and phenols. It pairs well with dark fruit flavor, ie. special B.

I tried WLP570 once in my first year of homebrewing. I don't remember what it tasted like, though. However, the golden strong I brewed recently with WY1388, said to be equivalent of WLP570, has wonderful ester flavor but is too phenolic to my taste The fermenting temperature started from 64F risen to 75F in one week. I am still looking for a way to reduce the phenolic flavor.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I am still looking for a way to reduce the phenolic flavor.

I suspect there are some way to manipulate phenolic flavors, but my general understanding is that the level of phenols is driven mostly by the yeast strain. When fermented warmer, yeast will tend to produce more esters which will mask some of the phenolic character. You could try fermenting warmer to push more esters and see how you like the character. Or look for a yeast that is less phenolic.

 

[pocketmon]

I suspect there are some way to manipulate phenolic flavors, but my general understanding is that the level of phenols is driven mostly by the yeast strain. When fermented warmer, yeast will tend to produce more esters which will mask some of the phenolic character. You could try fermenting warmer to push more esters and see how you like the character. Or look for a yeast that is less phenolic.

Yeah, I am going to push the upper bound up to 80+F degree next time.
One other option is pitching additional yeast, like
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/pink-elephant-delirium-tremens-clone.112957/

 

[deuc224]

Ive used 530 and make a westy clone that was great after month 7. I currently have 530, 454, and 570 i need to grow out and make more vials of them but 570 might be my next one since i bought some corn sugar for it.