Spencer Brewery Trappist yeast

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Ok, I'm doing this.

What would be the best-guess number of stir-plate steps (assuming .036 wort) to bring four bottles worth of the Abbey's yeast up to pitch 5.5 gallons of 60 point wort?

Using the Brewer's Friend multi-step-capable calculator with Chris White's math, and assuming I'm starting with a mere half-billion cells in roughly 10ml of wort, it's suggesting a .5 liter first step, then two 2 liter steps to get to a cell count comfortably above the recommended 230B cells.

Does that seem reasonable?

On the up side, I'm like a half hour from the Abbey and I specifically bought this four-pack from a store that caters to stuff like this - so, high turnover. The bottles are fabulous so I'm feeling they're pretty fresh...

Cheers!
 
That sounds like a good plan. First step should be 100ml or half a cup. After that I would go to 1 L and off from there. A 10x step is ideal.
 
So, what's your current thinking on this yeasts attenuation ability after propagation so far?

Got Step 1 on the stir plate. I use 2 and 5 liter flasks but this project has me thinking I could use a 1 liter flask as well.

spencer_step_1.jpg

Anyway, I'm going to run this for 24 hours then crash it for the next step.
Steps 2 & 3 will get some straight O2 to speed things up a bit, but they'll run for at least 24 hours each.
With cold crashing then warming back up after each step I have just enough time to get this ready for Sunday...

Cheers!
 
On the Dubbel and Pale ale it works out to about a low 80% attenuation. The Dubbel went from 1.080>1.011 with 13% sugar and the Pale ale from 1.061>1.012 with 4% sugar.

I think with proper yeast health and pitching such as at high krausen you would certainly see higher rates.
 
Did you guys find when cold crashing the starter this yeast it seems to takes longer than average to drop out? I only had one bottle and this is my first time harvesting dregs so I started pretty slow, kind of following an article from Chris Colby I found - 15 ml of 1.020 wort, then 150 ml of 1.030 wort, then 1200 ml of 1.040. The last step I seemed to yield the same amount of yeast I usually do for my 3 gal batches (125-150B) but that 1.2 L took about 72+ hrs to drop clear. Sadly life got in the way and I didn't use it to brew this past weekend as intended. I was plannng to start with a simple patersbier and harvest more from there to try in some bigger beers.
 
Yup, several days at around close to freezing. Although it takes a while to drop, the results are excellent; a compact slurry/sediment in the fermenter and bottle and crystal clear to boot. +1 on the daddy beer to get a huge harvest.

Edit: I rinsed the Pale ale yeast on 4/17 and last night there was still about half of a one gallon glass jar with considerable cloudiness. Clear at the top end though so yea, slowly dropping but very much the same experience with all my other yeasts over the years at fridge temps and lower.

I havn't gone back to assess how much I started with but I would guess all four bottles could have been considered each a full cup worth of 1.036 starter. Combining those (not decanted) into a 1 liter flask of maybe 950 ml's complete, I wound up with what I felt was sufficient yeast for the Dubbel. I must learn to take better notes but with 2 kids and full time work I find shooting at the hip to be my best effort thus far.
 
day_trippr said:
So, what's your current thinking on this yeasts attenuation ability after propagation so far?



Got Step 1 on the stir plate. I use 2 and 5 liter flasks but this project has me thinking I could use a 1 liter flask as well.



View attachment 272792



Anyway, I'm going to run this for 24 hours then crash it for the next step.

Steps 2 & 3 will get some straight O2 to speed things up a bit, but they'll run for at least 24 hours each.

With cold crashing then warming back up after each step I have just enough time to get this ready for Sunday...



Cheers!
Click to expand...


I see my picture within your picture😛

What kinda setup is that with gobs of wires, switches, and the blue temp display with cooling function??!
 
djbradle said:
I see my picture within your picture😛

What kinda setup is that with gobs of wires, switches, and the blue temp display with cooling function??!
Click to expand...

I have a fully-metered RaspberryPints tap list display atop my 6-tap keezer, and the RaspberryPi2 based system that runs that also runs multiple instances of BrewPi over Bluetooth radios to control my keezer temperature and both ferm fridges. I fabricated a small quasi-rack-mountable enclosure that holds everything and slides on rails into the back of the dolly under the keezer.

What you see in the picture is the identical twin of that system.
I can swap them in under a minute if need be, otherwise I do my development work on the one in my office.

And the small black unit with the LCD is my spare BrewPi "minion". Inside is an Uno and a custom shield and a pair of relays, and talks to the host over Bluetooth so I don't have wires strung around my brewery.

Making toys like these is pretty much in my wheelhouse and keeps me off the streets ;)

Cheers!
 
chickypad said:
Did you guys find when cold crashing the starter this yeast it seems to takes longer than average to drop out? I only had one bottle and this is my first time harvesting dregs so I started pretty slow, kind of following an article from Chris Colby I found - 15 ml of 1.020 wort, then 150 ml of 1.030 wort, then 1200 ml of 1.040. The last step I seemed to yield the same amount of yeast I usually do for my 3 gal batches (125-150B) but that 1.2 L took about 72+ hrs to drop clear. Sadly life got in the way and I didn't use it to brew this past weekend as intended. I was plannng to start with a simple patersbier and harvest more from there to try in some bigger beers.
Click to expand...


Hey chickypad here's my pale ale rinsed yeast in a gallon jar. As you see there is still some haze to be settled. Going to be a nicely sized pitch for whatever else I'll brew up with this yeast!

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1429841912.396775.jpg
 
Nice, that's pretty much what my starter like, with an extended haze. I think I've got some nice clean yeast now though to pitch into my 3 gal batch.
:mug:
 
Sadly, I have to concede that my propagation attempt totally failed.
Pre- and post- 48 hour gravity checks showed no movement at all, and an overnight crash revealed - a flask of clear wort.

No yeast. Zip. Zero. Nada.

Gotta brew this weekend to keep the pipeline at capacity, so I bailed and picked up a pack of Wyeast 3787. Already have the nth stage starter wort so I'll use that to boost the smack pack up before pitching Sunday afternoon.

No idea why the fail, but I'm definitely going to give the Spencer yeast another try. Next time I'll start with a lower gravity wort (like 10 points or so) and proof it before putting it on the stir plate...
 
That's very kind, thank you for the offer. I plan on to giving this another try in a week or so (I do like the Spencer Ale :)) but if that doesn't succeed and you're still holding more than you need, if I can bug you then that would be great.

Cheers! And thanks again :mug:
 
You got it!


Edit to save thread space:

I'm really quite surpised that you got nothing from your starter steps. Any activity from your first step? Did you use just one bottle worth of sediment? I got activity within that same time frame but of course poured the wort right into the bottles. Curious.
 
Well my pale is chugging along at 67* currently, pitched at 64 yesterday. It is kind of a fizzy krausen, not thick. I have high hopes!

spencerD1.jpg
 
Fizzy is it's busy characteristic so you're on the right track ;) Don't be surprised if that small krausen drops very shortly and then looks just like my tripel.
 
A good idea and setup for temp control. When the action stops do you seal up the gap around the thermowell so there's no chance of debris and dust infiltration?
 
The thermowell is pretty tight in that carboy hood. Anyway, for me the beer is usually in a keg shortly after the action stops, either to age there or in the keezer for a short turn around beer. After seeing the data on how oxygen gets through most airlocks and carboy closures, and watching videos that totally debunk the "CO2 blanket" myth, I've gotten a bit paranoid about leaving my beers too long in unsealed fermenters. I do think it's helped the lifespan of my beers.
 
Hmmm, never paid any attention to the CO2 controversy. After 4 years of brewing I've not once had a beer that was spoiled by O2 or was past it's prime but I do bottle within 1-4 months on mostly high gravity brews. I guess if I had brewed lots of pales, blondes, and session stuff under 6% maybe I'd have some experience of it but I doubt it.
 
I've not really experienced the cardboard taste that people talk about with bad oxidation but I do make a lot of very pale beers, like all base malt and session stuff. I noticed that they would be great young - crisp, really taste the malt and hops - then have a tendency to become pretty dull with even short periods of aging. I know a lot of that is inevitable but it seems at least some of it might have been my practices as I've noticed subtle improvements.
 
What timeframe are we talking when the crisp taste dissipated?

In any case the pale ale refectory clone is carbed and conditioning in bottles as we speak and I am excited to pop one In few weeks!
 
Maybe a few wks after tapping. I used to leave everything in the primary 4+ wks, and I think my autosiphon skillz were never really that stellar (always got stubborn air bubbles). Now most of my beers are in the keg by 2 wks, and I transfer with CO2 or at least into a purged vessel without using the auto siphon, and they seem to hold their character months in. The hop aroma fades of course but there's not so much overall change that seemed to occur.
 
Your process kegging with CO2 is my experience with the auto siphon and bottling so I wonder if maybe there was some issue with the seal of the tubing on the curved portion of your siphon? Anywho, what you have now for your process provides the solution so......[emoji106][emoji482]
 
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1430256013.479867.jpg



Ehhh not my best brew day. Second time trying an 8 gallon batch since a month ago and before that it was with different equipment about 2 years prior so I'm still honing the changes. I tried to pour from the 9 gallon kettle which had 8 gallons in it and spilled a bit( a few ounces only) plus had to add about a half gallon of top up water since I was shy that much in the fermenters. The kettle reading before that was Brix 23.5/Hydro 1.098.

The one on the left got 500mls of Spencer slurry to make 4.75 gallons, the one on the left got 300mls of Spencer slurry and 150mls of WLP540 slurry for 3.5 gallons. I pitched it at 76F by mistake but it will sit here in the basement at the low 60's so that by active fermentation I expect it to normalize. It's moving down about 1C per hour at this rate.

First high gravity Spencer pitch here we go!
 
I have heard that pitching high and cooling can definitely fake out the yeast. Hopefully everything goes well after this point! Be sure to let us know
 
TheHairyHop said:
I have heard that pitching high and cooling can definitely fake out the yeast. Hopefully everything goes well after this point! Be sure to let us know
Click to expand...

I certainly have come across that idea as well knowing that it does happen to 3787. I'm hoping I haven't bungled this one but my saving grace may be the huge amount of yeast I pitched!
 
View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1430446925.826057.jpg


Here's the pale ale I brewed on 3/24. A bit early but it carbed quick and was tempting to try. Still young but the element of the yeast is very much apparent. I'm getting some crisp green apple, graininess, noble hops, fresh pear. Very nice! I'll wait another month before I start to enjoy them in stride. I like this refectory ale recipe.
 
Do you guys feel that this is a unique strain? I would have assumed they would just use the Wesmalle strain.
 
tagz said:
Do you guys feel that this is a unique strain? I would have assumed they would just use the Wesmalle strain.
Click to expand...

I've yet to brew with it, but I would wager that it's similar but not identical. I believe that Spencer went through years of preparation before the Trappists would let them sell their beer
 
It's a very solid Belgian strain that mimics characteristics of the popular ones but has it's own nuances that I've outlined in this thread. I would not say it's unique but indeed a variant. I really like the flavors it gives so far. Looking forward to it's effects in high gravity. My favorite aspect is the crispy acidic fruit flavor and the low lying krausen leaving less need for massive headspace.
 
djbradle said:
It's a very solid Belgian strain that mimics characteristics of the popular ones but has it's own nuances that I've outlined in this thread. I would not say it's unique but indeed a variant. I really like the flavors it gives so far. Looking forward to it's effects in high gravity. My favorite aspect is the crispy acidic fruit flavor and the low lying krausen leaving less need for massive headspace.
Click to expand...


Ha, guess I should have read the thread. Lots of good info. Carry on!
 
Not totally on-topic, but I gave the batch that used WY3787 (due to the failed Spencer propagation) a check yesterday and not only was it sitting at terminal gravity, the yeast had floc'd like gravel! I mean this beer was freaky clear for so young (9 days). By comparison the dark strong ale I brewed the same day is closer to opaque.

The best part is it smells and tastes remarkably similar to the Spenser ale.
Very pleased about that, though it shouldn't be a surprise I guess. The worst thing that could have happened is I ended up with something with more generic characters, but this is definitely in a small ballpark.

Still going to give the Spenser propagation another try this spring, but 5 gallons of this will do nicely in the meantime...

Cheers! :mug:
 

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