Extract Trappist Ale Advice

[BDRJ]

Hello all

I am looking to make an extract trappist ale and I am looking for some advice in the recipe and process.

For my recipe I have:

9lbs pale malt extract
1lb Belgium Candi syrup
1oz Hallertau @90 mins
Whitelabs WPL500 yeast

Question on the recipe: Does this look about right or is there other suggestions?

As for the process I am thinking of starting with only 6lbs of extract to begin with and then adding the last 3lbs and candi syrup at the last 15mins of the boil.

As for the yeast, having never used liquid yeast before and reading up on the process i do have some questions. How big of a starter do I need to make in this situation?

I have a 2 liter flask and a stir plate on its way but wondering how much needs to be made in order for it to work.

Then comes the question of adding o2 to the cooled wort. Having never made a beer this big before, I have only ever shaken my carboy and at the moment do not have an air stone and pure o2 tank. I have seen other options of using an aquarium pump and stone but my concern would be that something could get into the wort using this method. Any advice here?

Thanks for all the help. Cheers!

 

[dmtaylor]

Looks yummy.

Personally I'd make a normal size starter. 2 liters should do the trick. Many people might say you need 3 or 4 liters. However, I think the stress of a slight underpitch helps Belgian yeasts develop more "Belgian" flavors.

I'm a splasher and shaker when it comes to oxygenation. I wouldn't overdo it. Again, stressing Belgian yeast is not necessarily a bad thing, and *might* even be a good thing. I'll be experimenting more with this in near future and suggest others might want to do the same. If you're not sure what to do, consider splitting the batch and doing things a little differently in each part to find out what YOU like the best. Don't take anyone else's word as gospel because we're ALL idiots, even the so-called "experts" most of the time.

The only other advice I have is to give the yeast a LOT of time in primary to finish fermentation. This batch is strong and might take 4 or 5 weeks to reach final gravity. Pitching in the 60s F and raising the temperature to the 70s after the first week and then keeping it warm should help ferment as fast as possible.

And also, don't rack it, just don't. You want to keep all the yeast in there to get the job done. If you rack too early, the fermentation could stall.

Cheers and enjoy!

 

[BDRJ]

Thanks for the advice. I think I am concerned that the yeast will stall out and not finish.

Dont have the means of temperature controlling just yet but my basement is in the low to mid 60s so shouldnt get too hot.

 

[GordH]

Hey. I have used the WLP 500 as you are doing. I am new to the brew myself. I use a stir plate and usually make a 1500ml starter with 1 cup of DME (light as possible) then grow my starter for at least 48hrs. And my yeast will be healthy enough to handle pretty much anything.
Also as for splashing I try and let my wort drop as far as possible from the mouth of the carboy to bottom to pick up air and then shake the crap out of it as well. I also use a portable aerator ( for keeping minnows alive while fishing) and built an inline air filter for it.
I hope this helps. Have fun.

 

[BDRJ]

Thanks for the input Gord

Will just have to experiment I guess and see how things go.

 

[Calder]

Replace a pound of extract with a pound of table sugar.

You can use table sugar in place of light candi sugar if you want.

Shake well ...... and when you think you have done all you can .... repeat the process.

No need to keep cool. Start around 65 - 70 for a day, but after that let it get warm.

 

[BDRJ]

Thanks for the tips Calder

I just bought a stir plate last night and did my first ever 2L yeast starter in a flask.
Not sure if its working but looks like things are moving around in there (could be just force of the stir bar though)
Here's to hoping all goes well.

 

[GordH]

Northern brewer and white labs both have good YouTube tutorials for doing starters.

 

[kh54s10]

Take a look at this and compare. There are some instructions: http://www.northernbrewer.com/documentation/beerkits/BelgianStrongGoldenAle.pdf

I use this calculator for making my starters: http://www.yeastcalculator.com/

You will need to play around with it some. I use the K. Troester stirplate calculations. Drop down in the method of aeration field.

 

[IslandLizard]

In addition to what @Calder said, shake well right before pitching, but shake it once again, 6-8 hours later. Make sure to let air get in during each shaking session. You want to maximize dissolved O2 in the (now) beer.

Also, please be careful when shaking a glass carboy. I used to lay them in my lap, while kneeling on the floor. But after seeing a bunch of pictures of cruel carboy accidents, I've stopped doing that. Buckets for me now.

I still use glass carboys, but only for long term aging sours. They don't require much handling as such.

 

[IslandLizard]

If I may suggest:

Only boil 1/3-1/2 of your extract even if you do full size boils. Then add the rest at flameout to prevent over-caramelization while keeping your beer tasting better.

Add the 2 pounds of sugar (per @Calder) after the fermentation is about half to 3/4 done. This to prevent the yeast engorging themselves on simple sugars and forget to eat the more complex ones.

 

[BDRJ]

Well I am finally seeing some action in the starter, however I took a quick smell and it smells like cider vinegar
Not sure if this is normal for the yeast or the starter, but now thinking I should get some dry yeast as a backup.
Any thoughts on the vinegar smell?

 

[GordH]

If he is using WLP 500 in a starter. Shaking at 6-8 hours later will be when that yeast starts to take off. I have had a few batches start climbing my blow off tube at that time. Have you ever used your 2 shake technique with the WLP 500? What were your results?

 

[GordH]

I would leave your stopper on and be patient. I can't tell you what it smells like at different times because I leave it to work. It will probably be fine in the end. The less disturbance the less chance of off flavours and contaminated beer.

 

[GordH]

Here are my two Belgians right now in the fermentation chamber

 

[vrstud]

I have made a left brune clone twice now from extract. The difference between our recipes is that I have several specialty malts that I steep - victory, biscuit, aroma malt.