WLP500 time to bottle/drink?

[bierandbikes]

I brewed a pumpkin ale on 11 Oct (OG 1.067) and I am fermenting at around 68 degrees. The airlock was bubbling within 5-6 hours (I used a 1.2L starter) and by day 2 it looked like it was boiling and the fermenter temp was up to 81 degrees. By day 3 fermentation was slowing and temp dropping. At day 4, most activity pretty well stopped and sitting at ambient temp and has remained there.

I intend to leave it in the primary for 4 weeks and then bottle.

For those who have used this yeast (understanding that my gravity readings will tell me if I need to add more time to the primary), is this enough time in primary for the yeast to complete their cycle and clean up the beer? And, assuming that I bottle around 8 November, can I expect this to be ready to drink by Christmas? How about 17 December (5 weeks in the bottle)?

Am I better to bottle 1 week earlier to gain an extra week in the bottle or use that week in the fermenter as planned?

 

[Yooper]

I brewed a pumpkin ale on 11 Oct (OG 1.067) and I am fermenting at around 68 degrees. The airlock was bubbling within 5-6 hours (I used a 1.2L starter) and by day 2 it looked like it was boiling and the fermenter temp was up to 81 degrees. By day 3 fermentation was slowing and temp dropping. At day 4, most activity pretty well stopped and sitting at ambient temp and has remained there.

I intend to leave it in the primary for 4 weeks and then bottle.

For those who have used this yeast (understanding that my gravity readings will tell me if I need to add more time to the primary), is this enough time in primary for the yeast to complete their cycle and clean up the beer? And, assuming that I bottle around 8 November, can I expect this to be ready to drink by Christmas? How about 17 December (5 weeks in the bottle)?

Am I better to bottle 1 week earlier to gain an extra week in the bottle or use that week in the fermenter as planned?

The "clean up" period is about 24 hours after the beer reaches FG, so 4 weeks is probably way overkill (but not going to hurt).

The issue with the beer will be the temperature- 81 degrees is very high- and the beer may taste very strongly of bubblegum and bananas due to the very high ester production. That doesn't "clean up" like diacetyl and other yeast byproducts do. I like this yeast strain at 66-68 degrees for a good balance of fruitiness and a tad bit of clove.

 

[bierandbikes]

My ambient temp was 69 degrees. I was really surprised to see my fermenter temp at 81. Never had the temp go that high, but also the first time using a Belgian yeast. The whole basement smelled of bananas. I hope that I pitched enough yeast to avoid some of the bubblegum but I guess I will wait and see. Good to hear you are using this yeast in the 66-68 range. I'll check the gravity tonight and see where I am. After reading some other posts I was afraid that I would not get full attenuation without raising the temp artificially.

 

[Yooper]

My ambient temp was 69 degrees. I was really surprised to see my fermenter temp at 81. Never had the temp go that high, but also the first time using a Belgian yeast. The whole basement smelled of bananas. I hope that I pitched enough yeast to avoid some of the bubblegum but I guess I will wait and see. Good to hear you are using this yeast in the 66-68 range. I'll check the gravity tonight and see where I am. After reading some other posts I was afraid that I would not get full attenuation without raising the temp artificially.

When I said that I like that yeast at 66, I meant fermentation temperature and not room temperature, though! So the ambient temperature was around 61 degrees or so, increasing a bit at the tail end of fermentation as fermentation slowed. That's a big difference- 66 vs 81 degrees!

 

[bierandbikes]

I pulled a sample last night. Fermenter temp was 67 degrees, gravity at 1.013 (1.014 with temp correction). That is a current attenuation of 79.1%. White Labs says average attenuation is 77%. When I pulled the airlock it was all fruity aroma. The sample had some fruitiness with plenty of cinnamin/clove/mace (which I added to boil) in the aftertaste. I think another few days or a week in the primary just for good measure and I'll bottle it and let the flavors mellow for 6 weeks and should be good. I think moderate carbonation for this beer (7% ABV currently).