Belgian Blond Under pitch

[jtp137]

So I made several belgian blondes in my day with wlp500 and wlp550. The last one with wlp500 and it had a little too much banana. I decided to give wlp575 a try and I am debating under pitching the yeast for some reason I am scared to death of under pitching. I usually pitch the proper amounts usually start at 65 and slightly raise the temps to the mid 70’s over a week, but a may want to try under pitching. What are your experiences in doing so

 

[leonardoreges]

Ive just done it in Hefeweizens looking for more clove on it.
Might work in Belgian as well, specially if you want a little less banana.

 

[Smellyglove]

Ive just done it in Hefeweizens looking for more clove on it.
Might work in Belgian as well, specially if you want a little less banana.

If you were looking for more clove you should rather overpitch than underpitch. Underpitching gives more esters.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

What are you trying to achieve by underpitching? Like stinkymitten said, underpitching (supposedly....I'm not convinced) increases esters - e.g. Banana. What flavours are you trying to push?

 

[jtp137]

Just to experiment really to see if it makes a difference but I’m afraid that it will not attenuate enough so probably will not do it

 

[Smellyglove]

It will make a difference, you'll get more esters.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Unless it's a massive underpitch, you're unlikely to fall short on attenuation. With the exception of lazy yeasts (eg. English strains) and as long as the temperature is good, the yeasties will continue to eat through the fermentable sugars until they are gone. An underpitch might mean that it will take longer to get to FG (fewer yeast eating the sugar) and might make more esters and/or other off flavours (eg higher alcohols) along the way, but the FG will most likely be the same as with a 'proper' pitch rate. Also, it may affect pH (less pH drop from a less vigorous ferment) and may give more chance for other contaminating microbes to set in (but it's unlikely again unless it's a huge underpitch).

 

[leonardoreges]

If you were looking for more clove you should rather overpitch than underpitch. Underpitching gives more esters.

When you under-pitch your yeast they need to divide one or two more times than they would otherwise. This means fewer yeast to make fatty acids which are the precursors for esters. That's the base of my statement and it actually worked.

 

[Smellyglove]

When you under-pitch your yeast they need to divide one or two more times than they would otherwise. This means fewer yeast to make fatty acids which are the precursors for esters. That's the base of my statement and it actually worked.

AFAIK there's an enzyme called alcohol acetate transferase (AAT), this has a big role in the esterification of fatty acids. The more cell growth the more of this enzyme is produced.

 

[leonardoreges]

AFAIK there's an enzyme called alcohol acetate transferase (AAT), this has a big role in the esterification of fatty acids. The more cell growth the more of this enzyme is produced.

Didn’t know that, gonna look for some more reading. But I keep saying that in practical basis what I said works.

 

[thehaze]

I usually try to underpitch when brewing belgians and hefes ( rarely ), but I am not sure I am successful at it, when using dry yeast.

However, I have brewed batches and used Wyeast for the yeast.

I did 5 gallons of 1.045-1.050 using one pouch and fermentation was OK, the beers was pretty great and I was happy. If I indeed underpitched, I do not know, but I did not hear any complaints about those beers and I even sold some to people.

 

[Lefou]

Some yeasts are more prone to produce phenolics than esters, but temperature and strain makes a difference, too.

I've brewed both German and American-style hefeweizens using three different White Labs liquid strains between 60F-65F. I've found WLP351 tends toward phenolics, WLP320 has muted phenolics and esters, and WLP300 balances the two at those temps. I under-pitched them all with small .5 liter starters.
Certain Belgian ale strains will act like the German hefeweizen yeasts and I treat them accordingly.

 

[jtp137]

Well I did it pitched around 0.65 mc/ml/plato made sure used yeast nutrient and used 1.5 minutes of pure O2 belgian blond all pilsner malt and sugar with wlp575