Under Attenuated Beer

[amazinglarry]

Hi Folks. Brewed a beer formulated after Belgian Tripel, used safale us-05. Was wondering if anyone knew if it was possible to induce a second fermentation. The beer has been already carbonated and chilled in my kegorator. Any thoughts? Thanks.

 

[doggage]

You could put another yeast in there, but it's not going to end up like you want it. If it's way sweet, you need to really focus on your fermentation tempteratures. Here's a good listen.

 

[nickster51]

Out of curiosity, why safale-05 for a tripel? Isn't one of the main flavors for a belgian ale the yeast? Also is Safale-05 an ethanol tolerant strand? Is it meant to take alcohol level characteristic of a trippel?

If you repitch, remember to culture some extra yeast to add when adding your priming sugar. This will insure that you have proper carbonation levels...

(these suggestions come from Belgian Ale (Classic Beer Style Ser) by Pierre Rajotte (Paperback - Jan 25, 1996) )

 

[doggage]

Agreed, you don't want a neutral yeast in this bear. Check out a Trappist yeast or culture some yeast from a good commercial tripel and make a starter.

BTW if you listen to that podcast, skip forward to about 30 minutes in.

 

[amazinglarry]

Out of curiosity, why safale-05 for a tripel? Isn't one of the main flavors for a belgian ale the yeast? Also is Safale-05 an ethanol tolerant strand? Is it meant to take alcohol level characteristic of a trippel?

If you repitch, remember to culture some extra yeast to add when adding your priming sugar. This will insure that you have proper carbonation levels...

(these suggestions come from Belgian Ale (Classic Beer Style Ser) by Pierre Rajotte (Paperback - Jan 25, 1996) )

No reason really, other than I've only recently begun using liquid yeast and the safeale was recommended by my local homebrew as strong enough to get the proper attentuation. In retrospect I would now use something else like wyeast trappist high gravity. Also, I'm glad doggage mentioned fermentation temps. I've been trying to figure out a way to control temperature without having a refrigerator to use. I've seen things like warming pads used in conjunction with digital thermometers but that doesn't strike me as very accurate. Lastly, why would the fermentation temp affect the sweetness of the brew? Thanks.

 

[doggage]

Oh, the reason that a beer's sweetness can be affected by the fermentation temperatures is that you're leaving a lot of sugars not attenuated (converted by the fermentation). In a big beer like this fermentation is even more important because you're starting with so many fermentable sugars, but you don't want a cloyingly sweet beer. If you get it to attenuate all the sugars you can by controlling fermentation temperatures effectively, you'll end up with a higher-alcohol, drier beer.

 

[amazinglarry]

Oh, the reason that a beer's sweetness can be affected by the fermentation temperatures is that you're leaving a lot of sugars not attenuated (converted by the fermentation). In a big beer like this fermentation is even more important because you're starting with so many fermentable sugars, but you don't want a cloyingly sweet beer. If you get it to attenuate all the sugars you can by controlling fermentation temperatures effectively, you'll end up with a higher-alcohol, drier beer.

Are you saying there is a minimum temp that should be maintained or an ideal temp for specific beers/gravity?

 

[doggage]

No, your temperature is usually determined by the yeast you're using. You should follow the range for a yeast (55-65^F, for example). Some people start fermentation at the lower end and then gradually raise the temperature over a week or so to reach the higher end of the range.

Your minimum temperature is determined by your yeast. My comment was that you need to control fermentation even more with a complex, high gravity beer like a Tripel. This is for the reason I mentioned above.

Fermentation is really a huge and somewhat complicated aspect of brewing. You can get different tastes out of beers with a different shaped fermentation container and different temps (as we've discussed) can have a huge effect.

 

[amazinglarry]

No, your temperature is usually determined by the yeast you're using. You should follow the range for a yeast (55-65^F, for example). Some people start fermentation at the lower end and then gradually raise the temperature over a week or so to reach the higher end of the range.

Your minimum temperature is determined by your yeast. My comment was that you need to control fermentation even more with a complex, high gravity beer like a Tripel. This is for the reason I mentioned above.

Fermentation is really a huge and somewhat complicated aspect of brewing. You can get different tastes out of beers with a different shaped fermentation container and different temps (as we've discussed) can have a huge effect.

How do you control your temperatures to a specific degree. Is it only possible with a refrigerator?

 

[doggage]

This is what I'm planning to do: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/northern-brewing-aquarium-heater-47986/

A lot of people have had great success with this.

 

[hopdawg]

I like that Aquarium heater idea. What I've done is insulated a cupboard in my garage and installed a small baseboard heater and thermostat. It works good for cool fermenting but as soon as the weather brings the mercury above 55F it doesn't work. It hold 4 carboys. So I build my Lagers Oct-Mar.