Safbrew abbaye

[rhys333]

Well that packet of BE-256 is still staring at me every time I open the beer fridge. Time to brew something with it. I'm looking to do a session strength Belgian pale or amber ale with some body to it. Reading above I gather low mash temp yields 80-90% attenuation. What can I expect with medium and high mash temp?

 

[dttk0009]

Pitched this into a belgian pale ale recipe and oh boy does it go. Don't think I've ever seen the airlock so busy.

Edit - Day 3 and the sulphur smell is pretty strong. Hope it'll dissipate over time. Fermenting it at 18C.

 

[dttk0009]

Racked this beer to keg today after 10 days in primary. The sulphur had completely disappeared after about 4 days. Instead I was now getting some banana armoa, very pleasant, but somewhat reminiscent of a hefeweizen.

Looking forward this beer conditioning over the next few weeks to see what aromas/flavors develop.

 

[rhys333]

Racked this beer to keg today after 10 days in primary. The sulphur had completely disappeared after about 4 days. Instead I was now getting some banana armoa, very pleasant, but somewhat reminiscent of a hefeweizen.

Looking forward this beer conditioning over the next few weeks to see what aromas/flavors develop.

What was your mash temp and attenuation?

 

[dttk0009]

What was your mash temp and attenuation?

Did a 3 step mash with mashout (20m @ 50C / 30 min @ 65C / 30 min @ 70C / 77C mashout).

OG of 1.051, FG of 1.011. Lower attenuation than I thought I'd get (Beersmith estimated 1.007), but could be due to unfermentables. Was my first time working with a step mash.

Gives me an apparent attenuation of 77.6%. Not bad, but less than I expected with this strain.

 

[rhys333]

Did a 3 step mash with mashout (20m @ 50C / 30 min @ 65C / 30 min @ 70C / 77C mashout).

OG of 1.051, FG of 1.011. Lower attenuation than I thought I'd get (Beersmith estimated 1.007), but could be due to unfermentables. Was my first time working with a step mash.

Gives me an apparent attenuation of 77.6%. Not bad, but less than I expected with this strain.

Thanks. Let us know how it turns out

 

[dttk0009]

Thanks. Let us know how it turns out

Here's how she looks today.

It's definitely getting better with age. As mentioned in the respective thread for the recipe I used, the finish feels very clean to me which really lets the malt shine. As far as yeast notes I get just the slightest hint of banana, so not really many phenols, if any.

I also screwed up my recipe and underhopped, so it's fairly sweet, but definitely drinkable! The yeast probably workes better with higher gravity beers.

 

[rhys333]

Here's how she looks today.

It's definitely getting better with age. As mentioned in the respective thread for the recipe I used, the finish feels very clean to me which really lets the malt shine. As far as yeast notes I get just the slightest hint of banana, so not really many phenols, if any.

I also screwed up my recipe and underhopped, so it's fairly sweet, but definitely drinkable! The yeast probably workes better with higher gravity beers.

Looks good. Based on your experience, I may try fermenting on the warmer side to see if I can push the yeast character. Thanks for the update.

 

[rhys333]

Well I FINALLY got around to using my BE-256 yeast yesterday. I made a bastardized Belgian ale using mixed base malt, some Victory and a touch of black. It's been warm here and my temp control consists of putting the fermentor on the basement floor, so I got it started at 66F and it's chugging along now at around 68-70F. I'll wait a day or so and then move it to a warmer location and finish at 75F. Fermentis says to get it off the yeast as soon as possible to preserve yeast character, so I'm planning to package in 7-10 days if possible.

 

[rhys333]

Bottling today after entirely too long sitting in primary. Zero Belgian yeast character. In fact, it's totally clean. Here's hoping it picks up some yeast character after bottle priming.

 

[Buckeye_Brewer1]

I brewed a Belgian Dubbel with this yeast on 7/4/17 and within 4 hours it was going. Large Krausen 12 hours post pitch with initial ferm temp ~68. The airlock is more active than any of my previous brews. I plan to let it rise but try to keep it under ~75.

5.5 Gallon Batch - OG 1.066

11 lb Belgian - Pilsner
1.5 lb American - Munich - Light 10L
0.5 lb German - CaraMunich III
0.25 lb Belgian - Special B
0.1 lb American - Chocolate
1 lb Belgian Candi Syrup - D-180 - (late addition)

Amount Variety Type AA Use Time IBU
0.75 oz Saaz Pellet 3.5 Boil 60 min 9.45
0.5 oz Willamette Pellet 4.5 Boil 60 min 8.1
0.75 oz Saaz Pellet 3.5 Boil 10 min 3.43
0.5 oz Willamette Pellet 4.5 Boil 10 min 2.94

I'm not getting the sulfur smell yet but I will monitor and update.

 

[dttk0009]

Bottling today after entirely too long sitting in primary. Zero Belgian yeast character. In fact, it's totally clean. Here's hoping it picks up some yeast character after bottle priming.

Glad to know it wasn't just me. I also ended up with a rather clean beer. The 5 gallons of this are almost empty, but I probably won't be grabbing this yeast again any time soon, maybe if I have a very high gravity Belgian I want to brew, but even then there's more tried and tested alternatives.

 

[rhys333]

Glad to know it wasn't just me. I also ended up with a rather clean beer. The 5 gallons of this are almost empty, but I probably won't be grabbing this yeast again any time soon, maybe if I have a very high gravity Belgian I want to brew, but even then there's more tried and tested alternatives.

I think my mistake was leaving it on the yeast for too long, leading to cleaning up of the esters. The spec sheet says to get it off the yeast asap after fermentation, so I think I'll try this next time (if I can bring myself to using secondary).

 

[dttk0009]

I think my mistake was leaving it on the yeast for too long, leading to cleaning up of the esters. The spec sheet says to get it off the yeast asap after fermentation, so I think I'll try this next time (if I can bring myself to using secondary).

Hmm, dunno. I didn't really have mine on the yeast for all that long (if memory serves me correctly). Like 2 weeks max maybe? I think it cleaned up really fast.

I remember getting lots of sulphur in the first few days of fermentation with this one. After that it mellowed out into a pleasant, lightly fruity aroma. The final product, however, was just "clean" to me.

Ended up finishing the last of it not too long ago. The guests all thought it was yummy, but they're easy to please anyway.

Next Belgian I do I'll go for a liquid strain since I'm pretty close to jumping into making starters.

I brewed a Belgian Dubbel with this yeast on 7/4/17 and within 4 hours it was going. Large Krausen 12 hours post pitch with initial ferm temp ~68. The airlock is more active than any of my previous brews. I plan to let it rise but try to keep it under ~75.

5.5 Gallon Batch - OG 1.066

11 lb Belgian - Pilsner
1.5 lb American - Munich - Light 10L
0.5 lb German - CaraMunich III
0.25 lb Belgian - Special B
0.1 lb American - Chocolate
1 lb Belgian Candi Syrup - D-180 - (late addition)

Amount Variety Type AA Use Time IBU
0.75 oz Saaz Pellet 3.5 Boil 60 min 9.45
0.5 oz Willamette Pellet 4.5 Boil 60 min 8.1
0.75 oz Saaz Pellet 3.5 Boil 10 min 3.43
0.5 oz Willamette Pellet 4.5 Boil 10 min 2.94

I'm not getting the sulfur smell yet but I will monitor and update.

Any update on your brew, buckeye? I imagine you'll be drinking it pretty soon. Did you get hit with any sulphur?

 

[rhys333]

Hmm, dunno. I didn't really have mine on the yeast for all that long (if memory serves me correctly). Like 2 weeks max maybe? I think it cleaned up really fast.

I remember getting lots of sulphur in the first few days of fermentation with this one. After that it mellowed out into a pleasant, lightly fruity aroma. The final product, however, was just "clean" to me.

Ended up finishing the last of it not too long ago. The guests all thought it was yummy, but they're easy to please anyway.

Next Belgian I do I'll go for a liquid strain since I'm pretty close to jumping into making starters.

Still drinking mine, and it might as well have been US05. I won't be using this strain again, so last night I dumped the slurry I had harvested.

I'm brewing a Belgian pale ale this afternoon, but this time with WY 1214 Belgian Abbey. I was going to go with 3787 but the LHBS was out. I think the 1214 will perform nicely though.

 

[Buckeye_Brewer1]

Any update on your brew, buckeye? I imagine you'll be drinking it pretty soon. Did you get hit with any sulphur?

I've had mine in the keg since the first week of August but not drank much since this is more of a fall beer. However I would tend to agree that it's a fairly clean yeast at this point. I fermented in basement which typically keeps the beer 65-72 degree range. This yeast might need higher temps to throw off more typical Belgian character. I just submitted 4 bottles that I filled from the keg into our local homebrew club fall competition. I will update this post once I have feedback from the judges.

 

[Buckeye_Brewer1]

Any update on your brew, buckeye? I imagine you'll be drinking it pretty soon. Did you get hit with any sulphur?

I kegged this beer the 1st week of August. I would agree that my dubbel has a fairly clean yeast character at this point. I have not drank much yet since this is more of a fall beer. I fermented in the 66-72 range but this yeast may need higher temps to throw off more of a Belgian character. I just submitted 4 bottles that I bottled from the keg to our local homebrew club fall competition. I will post my results once I get feedback from the judges.

 

[Buckeye_Brewer1]

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[ten80]

Absolutely, it takes the gravity way down but has that belgian mouth feel. When I do mine I use flaked oats, barley and rye, take it from 1.098 to 1.012 and still have that stout feel.

And it work on even bigger beers; I have a MASSIVE imperial stout going with Abbaye and the fermentation is surprising me every day. I keep adding sugars and the yeast keeps fermenting... now well beyond 11% ABV.

Day 1: 2 packs "expired" Abbaye yeast in 1L starter, pitched into 5 gallons 1.105 OG 5-gal stout at 62F.
Day 3: at 1.024 (64F), added 2 lbs dark candy syrup
Day 5: at 1.028 (68F), added 2 lbs caramelized honey (
Day 8: at 1.012 (70F), added 2 lbs honey
Day 9: added 1 lb honey plus WLP099 (super high gravity) starter
Day 10: at 1.024... things are going slowly now.

So now my RIS is sitting at a respectable 1.143 OG (cumulative, accounting for sugar additions and volumes) and the yeast(s) have really slowed down. I'm confident that I could get Abbaye to 15% again, but above that it seems to slow, hence the addition of WLP099.

I wasn't planning to make a >17% RIS, but it's interesting to see how far this will go. The flavor is quite clean with just a hint of banana. No spice. Sampling too many hydrometer samples make my face go numb.