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Belgian Dark Strong Ale Westvleteren 12 Clone - Multiple Award Winner

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my batch with "danstar abbaye" instead of "wpl530" finally stopped bubbling after 13 days at 75-80 degrees.

Waiting a bit longer for a gravity test and then it will move to the cellar.

my biggest problem is that i don't know when my belgian friends will visit next to bring "comparison materials" :D
 
I pitched 80 ml of thick yeast collected from active krausen of Belgian Blonde the week before and my Westy 10 clone finished @ 1.010 very rapidly. I had to use a heat belt to ramp the temp
 
2 weeks in, and the danstar abbaye has chewed through the beer in an insane tempo, it's already at 1.008 sg and i've brought the temp down to about 10 C.

The sample tasted okay, but obviously raw.
 
I live in Sweden, and have not been able to find the csi products anywhere in Europe. The csi website mentions an importer in the Netherlands, but I haven't found it.
 
I have used the brewferm syrup in a chimay clone and I actually didn't think it added very much flavour at all.
 
So far the brewferm syrup seems to be doing perfectly well, not that i wouldn't prefer to buy csi's products, if only to pay back for the awesome recipes on his site :D
 
I pitched 80 ml of thick yeast collected from active krausen of Belgian Blonde the week before and my Westy 10 clone finished @ 1.010 very rapidly. I had to use a heat belt to ramp the temp

Yep, healthy krausen adds a yeast vitality that just does not come in a vial :)
 
Unfortunately it seems as if Brouwmarkt only ships to the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany.
 
Unfortunately it seems as if Brouwmarkt only ships to the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Germany.


How much are you looking for? I have access to CSI's syrup and could send some to you, if you would like.
 
I have used the brewferm syrup in a chimay clone and I actually didn't think it added very much flavour at all.

That is 100% correct. For 6 years we've actively brew-tested every known domestic and import candi syrup, (a really great job to have...as you can see from our recipe list).

In using adjuncts, it really depends on what you're after. If you want to raise ABV and add some color then the import candi syrups are fine. If you want something more than just added color and increased ABV then premium candi syrups are key. Adjuncts with fillers, acid-inverted potato and corn starch, (after-the-fact added dextrose), are probably ok for some but not for extraordinary ales that win awards and have neighbors asking for more months and years later :)
 
Day 7 at 1.02 and I pitched 730 billion cells for an 11 gallon batch. So much for the 7 day finish. There is still a little krousen on top and the sample cloudy, so the yeast is still working. I will leave it at 80 and rouse the yeast. Hope i dont have to Repitch again

This yeast hates me I have used just about every belgian strain from white labs and this one gives me the most trouble

I think if you don't use fresh krousen method you are asking for trouble. Next time might try pitching at 68 then getting it to mid 70s for couple days then raising it to 80 around day 5

Or might try adding the syrups in the fermentor once the yeast chews through the majority of the maltose. Then give it the easy stuff

Does anyone know if wyeast strain attenuates better
 
I've only used the white labs offering but currently have a smack pack of the wyeast offering in the fridge to use pretty soon. The last time I used WLP530 it went insane in my starter and I just pitched the entire thing at high krausen because I was having problems with blowoff. Felt it would be best to keep what I had and dumb the OG of the wort down a little to keep the yeast. I also didn't have a stir plate so I was shaking it. I just finished building a stir plate so I'll be using it soon with the wyeast version.

Oddly enough, the WLP530 finished within 7-10 days and dropped from 1.095 to 1.009. Kept it around 80 degrees. It acted like it wanted to keep going. BUT, something managed to infect it so I tossed the batch. No idea what got it, but there were pellicles. That was a level of pissed off I hadn't felt in a long time.

Don't add the syrup to the fermenter. It's best to add it at 10 min left or knockout, whichever you prefer. It won't dissolve into solution as well unless you heat it into the wort.
 
I've only used the white labs offering but currently have a smack pack of the wyeast offering in the fridge to use pretty soon. The last time I used WLP530 it went insane in my starter and I just pitched the entire thing at high krausen because I was having problems with blowoff. Felt it would be best to keep what I had and dumb the OG of the wort down a little to keep the yeast. I also didn't have a stir plate so I was shaking it. I just finished building a stir plate so I'll be using it soon with the wyeast version.

Oddly enough, the WLP530 finished within 7-10 days and dropped from 1.095 to 1.009. Kept it around 80 degrees. It acted like it wanted to keep going. BUT, something managed to infect it so I tossed the batch. No idea what got it, but there were pellicles. That was a level of pissed off I hadn't felt in a long time.

Don't add the syrup to the fermenter. It's best to add it at 10 min left or knockout, whichever you prefer. It won't dissolve into solution as well unless you heat it into the wort.


What size starter did you make with no stir plate and a 1.095 wort?

My guess is you raised the temp to 80 fairly quickly?

This is my fifth or sixth time using this yeast I always use a pitch calculator pure o2 and a gradual temp ramp from 65 to 80 over 7 days and it always under attenuates

My last tripel was made with the unibrou yeast 1.080 to 1.010 in 6 days raised 65 to 75
 

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