40 replies to this topic

[neddles]

Mine finally slowed down today after 13 days. It was weird,  2-3 inches of krausen, lots of activity/swirling around in the carboy for days on end while very little off-gassing/airlock activity was occurring.

[MtnBrewer]

Gonna brew a loosely styled tripel flowed by a dubbel (burning off old stuff). My basement is low 60s right now, I can heat some as needed but less heating is easier. Given that what would you prefer?

 

 

3787 by  mile.  it's the Westmalle yeast and they invented the tripel.  1388 is like the 1056 of Belgian yeasts...very clean.  1762 is from Rochefort and to my tastes is too fruity for tripel.  3787 has the blend of fruit and phenolics I'm looking for.  I follow the Westmalle fermentation schedule and start in the low-mid 60s for 3-7 days then let it rise into the mid-upper 70s to finish.

 

I completely agree with Denny. 1762 is even fruitier than 1214; it is the most fruity of all the Belgian yeasts that I have tried. For a tripel I like more of a balance between phenolic and fruity flavors and 3787 is exactly that. 1388 is a great yeast for Belgian goldens (it's the Duvel yeast after all). The fruitiness is a very mild pear flavor but it does have some fairly strong phenolic notes. Not what I'm looking for in a tripel at all.

 

Now I did make a dubbel with 1762 recently that came out great but 3787 should be a good choice for that too.

[pods8]

Tripel is still chugging away with 3787, sitting around 68-70 range now, first 5days around 64.

Edited by pods8, 31 March 2014 - 08:50 PM.

[MakeMeHoppy]

Tripel is still chugging away with 3787, sitting around 68-70 range now, first 5days around 64.

Mine topped out at 66 degrees. Stupid cold snap hit at the wrong time and my usual 70 degree brew room was at about 64 degrees for the past week. I've never had to heat a beer before and didn't feel like running out for a brew belt and controller for just one batch.  I still have good hope as the beer smells great.  Good luck on yours!

[pods8]

Mine would have stayed around 64 w/o supplemental heating, I've got it in the basement bathroom heated up to 70-72 ambient when the heater kicks on.  I figure some of the heat is rising up into the house so its not a total energy waste.

[pods8]

No joke on time for this yeast, 2.5weeks later and it's still bubbling steadily.

[denny]

No joke on time for this yeast, 2.5weeks later and it's still bubbling steadily.

 

While it may still be fermenting, bubbles really won't tell you what's up.  Take a gravity reading.  Or let it ride for another week and then take a reading.

[pods8]

Yeah I need to, just haven't since its actively producing moderate co2 since the bubbling is via a 5/8" blowoff I haven't swapped yet every couple seconds.

[ChicagoWaterGuy]

Happy yeast, ripping away in 12hrs, awesome smells already.Tangent: Any keg guys bottle condition for giggles still, I was pondering priming and bottle conditioning some of this batch.

I like to bottle condition some Belgians. I usually get too much foam if I'm trying to pour a 3+ volume beer out of the tap.

[pods8]

1.024 still.

[MakeMeHoppy]

1.024 still.

what did it start at?  Mine went from 1.068 to 1.008 in two weeks and most of the last week there was little activity. I never even got to ramp mine up because by day 5 at 64 degrees it appears to have been mostly done. I did use 1 lb of table sugar to get to 1.068 so that may be a factor.

[3rd party JKor]

While it may still be fermenting, bubbles really won't tell you what's up. 

 

 

I see this statement quite often, and I usually chalk it up to a statement to keep newbie brewers grounded, but if you're airlock is regularly bubbling then you're almost certainly fermenting.  Unless you've agitated the fermenter or there has been a change in temp, you shouldn't see any bubbling.  Is there another explanation for airlock bubbling that I'm missing? 

[denny]

I see this statement quite often, and I usually chalk it up to a statement to keep newbie brewers grounded, but if you're airlock is regularly bubbling then you're almost certainly fermenting.  Unless you've agitated the fermenter or there has been a change in temp, you shouldn't see any bubbling.  Is there another explanation for airlock bubbling that I'm missing? 

 

Temperature change, barometric pressure change.  But I tend to agree that regular, continuous bubbling more than often indicates fermentation.  An occasional  bubble or stream of them may not, though.

[pods8]

Temperature change, barometric pressure change.  But I tend to agree that regular, continuous bubbling more than often indicates fermentation.  An occasional  bubble or stream of them may not, though.

 

Agreed.  When I say actively bubbling I certainly meant it.  (Also granted I took a couple years off mashing in, verse just meads, but give me some credit. ).  Temps had cooled back down into the mid 60s and the sample taste had room for more yeast notes so I wrapped a heating blanket around it and I'm planning to warm it to mid 70s (it was 70-72 when I left this morning).

[pods8]

Alright seem to have stalled at 1.020 in primary for my tripel which tastes too sweet, I racked it over the weekend, made a starter with some of the cake and repitched it in on sunday but haven't really had any new progress.  Normally I'd just relax but I think I shot myself in the foot in that for part of the sugar addition I decided to make some golden syrup (doing the DAP/sugar water mix) and I'm thinking that had some portion that became unfermentable and is keeping my FG up.  Back calculated OG was ~1.082. 

 

So I'm pondering my options.  Would any of the wine yeasts (I have 71B on hand but could get others) chew up any of the sugars that might he hanging around still that the 3787 can't? 

 

There is the amylase option but I presume that'd make it too fermentable and dry out the batch.

 

Thoughts?  As noted I'd be happy to repitch/swirl if I thought it'd help but I'm thinking its the sugar syrup I made being the issue.

[ChicagoWaterGuy]

Brett C!

[pods8]

  I have 12gal of it so I could certainly be tempted to funk up part of it...  Now how about the other part, I would like a nice easy drinker in the near term.

[denny]

You need to figure out if the problem is the wort or the yeast.  If it's the wort, pitching more yeast won't help.  Try a fast ferment test.

[pods8]

You need to figure out if the problem is the wort or the yeast.  If it's the wort, pitching more yeast won't help.  Try a fast ferment test.

 

I didn't know about other yeasts was the query.  I'm 90% sure its too many unfermentables left over, but I can certainly pull some off and pitch both some of the 3787 and some cali slurry I have into it and warm it/shake it regularly for a bit to see if it drops at all.

[denny]

I didn't know about other yeasts was the query.  I'm 90% sure its too many unfermentables left over, but I can certainly pull some off and pitch both some of the 3787 and some cali slurry I have into it and warm it/shake it regularly for a bit to see if it drops at all.

 

Make sure to pitch a LOT of yeast. 

 

The wine yeasts likely won't do anything the beer yeast hasn't.