Wyeast 1762 Belgian Abbey II Attenuation

[ryanjbrowne]

Looking for input from those who've used the Wyeast 1762 Belgian Abbey II in the past.

I have a Belgian Golden Strong with Wy 1762 that's apparent attenuation is at 84% (1.082 OG --> 1.013). I mashed at 148F and 8.5% of the bill was cane sugar. Is this guy going to drop a bit more? BeerSmith 2 has it projected out at 1.008 FG (which would be 90% apparent attenuation).

I plan to age it out in the bottle for at least a year and want to make sure the yeasties won't keep churning in there (and create a bottle-bomb situation).

Thoughts?

 

[kingwood-kid]

If it's been at the same gravity for a week, you're ok to bottle. You can rack to secondary or gently shake your primary to stir the yeast back into solution, and then let it sit a few days if you want to be totally sure. The only ale yeasts I know of that have the reputation of stopping & starting are WLP002/WY1968 and WLP565/WY3724.

 

[beergolf]

How long has it been fermenting?

The reason I ask is that Belgian yeasts can sometimes take a long time to get the last few points.They will get down pretty low fast and then just slowly chip away at the last few points. I did a tripel that I thought was done and bottled it. It must not have been done because the bottles are way over carbed and borderline gushers. Since then I always give my Belgians plenty of time to finish.

Here is a great quote from Brew Like a Monk.

"Let the fermentation finish, perhaps at a higher temperature. I can take as long to get the last few points of attenuation as it did for the first 80%."

 

[wubears71]

I'm glad I saw this as I currently using a Belgian yeast.

 

[Burgs]

I'm having a weird experience with this yeast. I brewed The Number 8 from Northern Brewer and my wort into the fermenter was 1.092. I pitched a starter that I had stepped up once, chilled, decanted and then let warm back up again. I saw activity very quickly, within 12 hours, but this thing formed no krausen, really weird. I wondered if it had anything to do with me using Fermcap-S in both the starter and the batch of beer itself? I was half expecting this thing to blowoff since the OG was high, but it's just been slow and calm... too calm...

 

[ryanjbrowne]

If it's been at the same gravity for a week, you're ok to bottle.

This was roughly my rule of thumb until recently when I had my first bottlebomb (after 7 years of brewing). That beer sat and sat for weeks at what I thought was terminal gravity. Then, two months later, boom. That's why I was wondering about other folks' experience with Wy 1762's attenuation, and how that matches with BeerSmith's 90% expected attenuation (as opposed to my current attenuation of 84%).

From now on, my preference is to go by the numbers of attenuation and not necessarily time duration (which is why I do a force ferment test for each batch now too).

How long has it been fermenting?

I did a 12 day primary, pitching at 68F and letting it rise to 73F, then secondary since for 12 days (as of today). No change in gravity since racking to secondary.

And I do appreciate the Brew Like A Monk quote. I have a Saison that is similarly taking its sweet time eeking down after a MONSTER start when I had the primary fermenter outside in 95F heatwave. It's at 1.009, with 86% attenuation using the Wy 3724 Belgian Saison. But again, BeerSmith anticipates a 1.006 FG (which would be 90% attenuation...).

I think I'll just let them keep going unless folks on here have attenuation numbers for these yeasts and the results of those numbers on the beer in bottles after 9-12 months.

Thanks!

 

[srmarcondes]

what's the outcome here Ryan? any developments? I'm brewing with this yeast on Sat and was curious to know what happened...

 

[ryanjbrowne]

what's the outcome here Ryan? any developments? I'm brewing with this yeast on Sat and was curious to know what happened...

Right! Update!

I love this yeast. Some excellent phenols and esters; perfect for a golden strong. Have fun with it!

Here are the final numbers:
OG: 1.082
FG: 1.011
Mash: 147F
No O2 except shaking carboy
Apparent/Real Attenuation: 86%/71%
Brewed 6.26.12; bottled (corked and caged in Belgian bottles) 8.26.12.

Highly carbonated, as desired. No problems whatsoever with bottle bombs/gushers.

My process has changed significantly since this brew/post. First, I oxygenate now (with stone and benzomatic O2 tank), and I've had zero issues hitting my FG.

Second, and most instructive, I've started Forced Ferment Tests (FFT). Just take 4oz or so (enough for a hydrometer reading) of wort and pitch some yeast into it. I typically make a bit extra yeast starter in anticipation of pitching about 2 Tablespoons of yeast into the FFT. This way I know the possible limit of attenuation for each batch. No more guessing.

Have a great brew day! Let me know how you like the Abbey II.

 

[MNDan]

Thanks for the update!

 

[srmarcondes]

Thanks for the update!
I just learned that the 'attenuation problem' I had was using the refractometer properly... lesson learned

 

[ryanjbrowne]

what's the outcome here Ryan? any developments? I'm brewing with this yeast on Sat and was curious to know what happened...

How'd the brew go?

 

[srmarcondes]

it's in the secondary... will see... in hindsight i think i should not have used 3g of cardamon seeds...