Been successfully brewing a Belgian Trippel recipe for a while now with Wyeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity, and after a recent experiment with WLP545 Belgian Strong produced a completely distinct beer from the same wort recipe, I've decided to go out and try as many Belgian ale yeasts as I can find that would be appropriate for the style, to see which one does what in an otherwise mostly controlled environment.
Since I had picked up the WLP500 Monastery Ale back in early January, and the pack showed as having expired in mid-January, I figured I'd make a starter to get it up to par - the WLP545 had expired a month before I used it, but with a 24 hour starter it gave me 85% attenuation and great flavors to boot. The morning after having set that up, however, I had not a bubble in my starter jug, and I figured I'd either got a bad batch, or dumped it too hot (I had 3-year-old help when pitching the starter, and I realized too late that I'd not actually put a thermometer in, just felt the heat of the jug).
I brewed the wort that day (Sunday) anyway, and just kept it sealed in my bucket/airlock setup that evening. LHBS opened for business on Monday, and I picked up two packs of the WLP500 that were ~3 months away from listed expiration - the gentleman helping me suggested that'd be faster than doing a starter, and more pure anyway, before only charging me for one. Drove 30 minutes home with them unrefrigerated, let them sit at a room temperature of ~66 for another 45 minutes, and happily pitched my 1.090 SG, ~72 degree batch (different end of the house), same as I've been doing with the other yeast for a while now to good results. This was 1:00 p.m.
Tuesday at 7:00 a.m. I came to check fermentation, and saw no airlock bubbling. Undeterred, I figured I'd take a quick peek, see a bunch of bubbles, and relax. Instead I saw not a single bubble, no signs of fermentation at all.
Is this particular yeast known for being slow to start? The starter jug never did develop any activity, even 50+ hours along, so I'm pretty sure that pouch was dead. Two more pouches straight from the LHBS (that does a lot of yeast business and keeps their stuff fresh) shouldn't be duds, either. I'm at a loss for what could be going on here.
Since I had picked up the WLP500 Monastery Ale back in early January, and the pack showed as having expired in mid-January, I figured I'd make a starter to get it up to par - the WLP545 had expired a month before I used it, but with a 24 hour starter it gave me 85% attenuation and great flavors to boot. The morning after having set that up, however, I had not a bubble in my starter jug, and I figured I'd either got a bad batch, or dumped it too hot (I had 3-year-old help when pitching the starter, and I realized too late that I'd not actually put a thermometer in, just felt the heat of the jug).
I brewed the wort that day (Sunday) anyway, and just kept it sealed in my bucket/airlock setup that evening. LHBS opened for business on Monday, and I picked up two packs of the WLP500 that were ~3 months away from listed expiration - the gentleman helping me suggested that'd be faster than doing a starter, and more pure anyway, before only charging me for one. Drove 30 minutes home with them unrefrigerated, let them sit at a room temperature of ~66 for another 45 minutes, and happily pitched my 1.090 SG, ~72 degree batch (different end of the house), same as I've been doing with the other yeast for a while now to good results. This was 1:00 p.m.
Tuesday at 7:00 a.m. I came to check fermentation, and saw no airlock bubbling. Undeterred, I figured I'd take a quick peek, see a bunch of bubbles, and relax. Instead I saw not a single bubble, no signs of fermentation at all.
Is this particular yeast known for being slow to start? The starter jug never did develop any activity, even 50+ hours along, so I'm pretty sure that pouch was dead. Two more pouches straight from the LHBS (that does a lot of yeast business and keeps their stuff fresh) shouldn't be duds, either. I'm at a loss for what could be going on here.