Wyeast 3787 Belgian Tripel temperature question

[jrodder]

Quick question to pick your brains on. I read a decent amount on how people pitch this yeast on a Tripel. I decided to pitch low, 63F and let it go as it may, with an ambient temp in the fermentor of about 69 to 70F. The wort temp got as high as 77F, and after 3 days its now dropped to 72F.

I understand that it can stall when temp drops, should I have attempted to keep the wort at its highest temperature? What is the best way to ensure attenuation at this point? My gut says to maybe slowly ramp up ambient to 74 or so?

 

[messiah]

64-78F gives you a pretty good range.

You should be fine letting it finish out at a lower temp as long as its still in the proper range. Its pretty natural for the temp to rise when the yeast are active.

 

[jrodder]

Okay I didn't know if the temperature drop causing stalled yeast was any drop at all, or a drop out of range of the yeast. A lot of posts aren't specific. I just don't want to waste a beer that will take a long time to age, you know? Want to get it right the first time!

 

[tgmartin000]

Check the gravity. If it's too high, I'd consider letting it warm as much as you can to help the yeast along. Perhaps the yeast has attenuated fully, in which case you're probably OK. If I recall, that yeast is a pretty strong attenuator, so you're probably OK either way.

I've got a saison (wlp585) and a golden strong (wlp570) both sitting at 80+ right now, after ramping up from about 68. I'm going to let them sit at 80+ until the end of this week and check the gravity. If they're both where I want them (as low as possible), I'll leave another 2 weeks in the fermentor. Then keg the saison and rack the golden to secondary for extended aging.

 

[jrodder]

Pitched Sunday afternoon, I'm at 1.030 now, and still lots of activity in airlock. Raised temp to 74 ambient, I might go higher as time goes on. Hopefully it keeps chugging along. I was hoping for something in the range of a 1.012 finish.

 

[butterpants]

I just brewed with that strain last week 1.082. 3 days at 65F (ambient cellar temps) then moved upstairs to 72 ambient but added a Brew Belt heating element.... staying there until she hits 1.018 been 6 days so far.

 

[butterpants]

I just brewed with that strain last week 1.082. 3 days at 65F (ambient cellar temps) then moved upstairs to 72 ambient but added a Brew Belt heating element.... staying there until she hits 1.018 been 6 days so far.

Day 7 I was at 1.014. Racked it to a secondary but imagine it's done dropping.

 

[jrodder]

I'm at day 6, temp was ramped back up to 78F. It's looking like 1.022 right now. Hopefully not stalled too badly, if so I guess I can bite the bullet and add more yeast and a small amount of sugar. Everyone says how it really slows down at the end, but I don't think I am going to get another 10 points in a couple of weeks, or maybe I'm wrong? I should likely just stop messing with it heh. Sample tasted decent though, very Duvel-like. Tasty esters, even through the yeast.

 

[kh54s10]

I brewed a few with that yeast and did not go through all those gyrations. I just kept the wort temperature in the middle of the range. The beers were great and I had no issues with the yeast stalling.

 

[butterpants]

I'm at day 6, temp was ramped back up to 78F. It's looking like 1.022 right now. Hopefully not stalled too badly, if so I guess I can bite the bullet and add more yeast and a small amount of sugar. Everyone says how it really slows down at the end, but I don't think I am going to get another 10 points in a couple of weeks, or maybe I'm wrong? I should likely just stop messing with it heh. Sample tasted decent though, very Duvel-like. Tasty esters, even through the yeast.

can you push it past 80F?

 

[pdxal]

3787 really likes warming at the end of fermentation unless you can wait a long time with it at 75ish. Long, steady increase in temp over fermentation works much better than letting it drop and stall. I usually finish it on a heating pad under my carboy in the 80+ range to avoid any bottle bombs. A mash with pilsner malt at 150ish and a pound of sugar with Saaz hops to 25IBUs or so in a 5 gallon batch will make a great tripel that finishes around 1.010 or slightly lower.

 

[jrodder]

This one is sitting at a steady 78 at the moment. I am going to give it another week at 78 and see if it's dropped at all. If not, I might another packet of 3787 and possibly some sugar. Live and learn. I was trying to use the "monk method" and just let it do its thing, but doing that means letting the temperature ramp up, and then come back to ambient and stay there, which everyone was saying that yeast doesn't like.

 

[g-star]

I made best of show with a tripel using this yeast and just Pils + table sugar. I did not under-pitch (as is sometimes suggested) and used pure O2.

My pitch temp was 64F, I let it naturally rise to 72F over 36hrs and held it there for 1 week, at which point it was at 1.030. I increased the temp to 75F and held it there for one more week until it quit at 1.013. OG was 1.075. The beer was then conditioned at 50F for 4 weeks before kegging.

The key is not to roller-coaster your temps, and don't exceed a temp in the low 70's during the most active ferm, as the beer can get solventy.

 

[jrodder]

That's good advice then. I went for the higher temps mainly because I wanted to showcase some esters, and from the taste it's fine. Not solventy at all, and alcohol hotness fades with some age. I guess I was confused as to what to do after letting the temp of the ferm rise naturally. Next time I will monitor and whatever it tops out at, hold it there for a bit. I also need to look into some 02 as it seems maybe some of my problem is agitating the heck out of it isn't enough for a big beer.

Next question: If I repitch yeast, do I just drop the activated smack pack right into the fermentor? Starter? Sugar? Chance of over-attenuation?

 

[pdxal]

Repitching yeast would involve using the yeast you used in this batch, where would the smack pack come into play? This batch of yeast is probably pretty stressed by the high gravity fermentation and it is generally advised not to reuse it.
You could take some of the slurry, build a starter to get it healthy, and use it on another batch, though. There are lots of threads and a sticky on here about making starters. You probably need to consult a pitch rate calculator like Mr. Malty's online to determine how big a starter you will need for the next batch to have the correct pitch rate. Over attenuation is generally tough unless you are using something along the lines of a whole yeast cake. Reusing and direct pitching part of a cake is calculated on the Mr. Malty site.

 

[jrodder]

Sorry, I meant pitch *more* yeast into the existing batch. I was already planning on stealing some of the existing yeast to make some starter for later batches, but yes it's stressed. I was wondering how to calculate a pitch rate for a beer in progress, people talk about adding more yeast to a stalled batch quite frequently. I am assuming they are pitching the 100 million cells or so...

 

[pdxal]

Pitch an active starter at high krausen. Doubtful it is lack of yeast, but worth a try. 1 pack yeast in 1L starter would be enough if more yeast will do anything.

 

[jrodder]

I think I might be ok. Checked again this morning and looked like I was in the 1.016-18 range. So, it's still chugging along. It tasted pretty hot and intense, I figure I'll be putting this in a secondary and forgetting about it for a few months.

 

[jrodder]

just an update for future thread searchers:

I was just impatient. (surprise) 10 days of fermenting, and looks like I finished out at 1.012, which is exactly where I wanted to be. Stayed at 78F for the duration. Flavor seems ok, but of course it'll take some aging to see how it all pans out. It's neat to work with all the different yeasts, every one has it's own character.

 

[GuldTuborg]

Glad it worked out. 3787 is great stuff, but you have to be super patient with it. It's crazy slow at the end.

 

[Hopinista]

just an update for future thread searchers:

I was just impatient. (surprise) 10 days of fermenting, and looks like I finished out at 1.012, which is exactly where I wanted to be. Stayed at 78F for the duration. Flavor seems ok, but of course it'll take some aging to see how it all pans out. It's neat to work with all the different yeasts, every one has it's own character.

I have a Bière de Garde using 3787 and it's been ferming super strong for over a week.
I have a question though, did you notice any smell with it?