luckybeagle
Making sales and brewing ales.
8 weeks ago I brewed a Trappist Single using Wyeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity yeast (Westmalle Strain). The single turned out OK--not my favorite beer, but not with noticeable flaws--I primarily brewed it for the slurry.
I pitched roughly half of that slurry into a 1.074 OG Tripel and fermented it from 64 - 72F over a 10 day period, gradually raising the fermentation chamber by a degree or so per day. I then held it at 72F for another 12 days and just took a sample today, on day 22.
It's incredibly tart. Like almost Duchesse d'Bourgogne tart. It finished at 1.011 for an AA of 86%. The grist is 80% Pilsner, 15% table sugar, 2.5% wheat malt, 2.5% aromatic malt. The pH of the finished beer is 4.05. I hit a mash pH of 5.2-5.3, IIRC.
I've not had much luck with 3787 in the past, and have had one other experience with a Tripel using this yeast that tasted seemingly infected/super sour. I'm not sure that's the case here, but I am confused why this happened. There are no pellicles in the fermenter that I can see.
What could cause this beer to get so dang tart?
Water (RO built up to the following profile):
CA 64
MG 8
SO4 50
MG 6
CL 100
HCO3 0
My dilemma is that I have accumulated heavy Belgian glass over the past 4 years to complete this series of Trappist-inspired beers, and would hate to use 50 of my 110ish remaining bottles packaging up a beer that might always drink like fresh squeezed lemon juice.
I also still have a pint of slurry that I was planning to use in a Quad/Dark Strong, but if it turns out tart like this I'd probably cry/scream/throw my fermenter away.
What's your take on why this happened, and where the problem lies? Is this typical for stronger 3787 beers early into their lives?
I pitched roughly half of that slurry into a 1.074 OG Tripel and fermented it from 64 - 72F over a 10 day period, gradually raising the fermentation chamber by a degree or so per day. I then held it at 72F for another 12 days and just took a sample today, on day 22.
It's incredibly tart. Like almost Duchesse d'Bourgogne tart. It finished at 1.011 for an AA of 86%. The grist is 80% Pilsner, 15% table sugar, 2.5% wheat malt, 2.5% aromatic malt. The pH of the finished beer is 4.05. I hit a mash pH of 5.2-5.3, IIRC.
I've not had much luck with 3787 in the past, and have had one other experience with a Tripel using this yeast that tasted seemingly infected/super sour. I'm not sure that's the case here, but I am confused why this happened. There are no pellicles in the fermenter that I can see.
What could cause this beer to get so dang tart?
Water (RO built up to the following profile):
CA 64
MG 8
SO4 50
MG 6
CL 100
HCO3 0
My dilemma is that I have accumulated heavy Belgian glass over the past 4 years to complete this series of Trappist-inspired beers, and would hate to use 50 of my 110ish remaining bottles packaging up a beer that might always drink like fresh squeezed lemon juice.
I also still have a pint of slurry that I was planning to use in a Quad/Dark Strong, but if it turns out tart like this I'd probably cry/scream/throw my fermenter away.
What's your take on why this happened, and where the problem lies? Is this typical for stronger 3787 beers early into their lives?