WLP500 fans, how do you set fermentation temperature for best flavor?

[Horseflesh]

I recently made a Belgian blonde with WLP500, and it came out pretty good. I thought it was a bit lacking in flavor intensity though, and that is probably because I fermented it at 65F. After a couple weeks at 65F, I boosted it to 70F until it hit FG... But it took almost 5 weeks total to dry out.

I want to rebrew this with no recipe changes, but a new yeast temperature protocol, for more flavor and hopefully better speed, too. What would you recommend? Should I begin at the top of the White Labs recommended range, 72F? After a couple of weeks, should I set it a few degrees warmer? Not sure how warm is too warm after those critical first days.

(I have a temperature controlled chamber so it is easy to punch in the desired temperature, but if I want to ramp up or down I have to set each new point manually.)

 

[secondbase]

The gravity of your wort, pitch rate and temperature will all affect the flavor the finished beer. Higher gravity, higher temperatures and lower pitch rates will result in more yeast character. IME, fermenting a moderate gravity wort 66-68º to start will yield a very nice yeast character. Higher gravity worts I'll ferment around 65º to start. I like to slowly ramp this yeast up as it seems to slow down, usually hitting temps around 72-75º to finish depending on the beer. IME, if you start this yeast too high it throws a ton of banana and bubblegum, super fruity character. The first time I used this yeast it was at 70º to start, hitting 80º to finish and the resulting beer was a banana-bomb for about six months.

Then you need to look at pitch rate. A slight underpitch in a low or moderate gravity beer could be beneficial in getting a little more character out of this strain but I would not recommend it in a higher gravity wort because this strain can produce fusels if fermented hot and/or stressed.

I've not found this strain to be particularly quick to start or finish. It's worth the wait, and the beers I've made with it have evolved with time. To help it finish quicker, pitch more yeast, aerate adequately and ramp up towards the end of fermentation.

 

[Horseflesh]

Thanks, that is very helpful!

OG for this brew will be about 1.065 which includes about 12 oz of table sugar, or a comparable amount of candi sugar if I'm feeling motivated.

I'll try starting at 68F, and after 2 weeks ramp up to 72-73F for the finish.