Stalled WYeast 3787. Suggestions?

[bknifefight]

A few weeks ago I brewed up a Tripel with WYeast 3787. Here is my recipe:

9 lbs Extra Light DME
2 lbs Cane Sugar (I added it at the end of boil - no incremental feedings)
4 oz Saaz throughout

Very simple recipe. I did a 1.75-2 liter starter on a stir plate as suggested by Mr Malty and it made a mess of my counter. I realize now the yeast that leaked out was probably the more active and would have help attenuation. I pitched colder (62) and raised the temp to 72 in the first week. It started off by really blowing out the blow tube and all was good. After the first 5 of 6 days it slowed down to a crawl. After 2 weeks it was lingering at 1.038 so I upped the temp to 75. Five days later (today) it is still 1.038. Each of those 5 days I rocked the carboy at least twice.

I know my options here:
- Heat it up more to wake up those lazy yeast
- Pitch more yeast

Does anyone with experience with this yeast have a suggestion? I placed a heating pad under it to raise the temp some more and see what happens. Would there be any ill effects to get this carboy up into the lower 80's?

Thanks!

 

[Saccharomyces]

Gotta warm it up. These yeast will get lazy and won't finish unless you get it really warm. 80 is good.

 

[bknifefight]

I'm hoping the heating pad will figuratively "lite a fire under their lazy asses." I am not expecting an extremely low FG with this being extract but 1.038? Come on, you bums! (I'm yelling at the yeast, I swear! )

 

[EvilGnome6]

3787 is probably my favorite yeast and yes, it tends to blow off like crazy. If it has been stuck that bad for that long, I would try repitching with a fresh 1L starter or rack it onto a yeast cake from another batch.

I had issues with stuck fermentations both times I added sugar in the boil. Every batch I've done with incremental feeding has fermented out perfectly. YMMV.

 

[bknifefight]

The heating pad seems to have helped get those yeasts up and off the bottom. The beer is visibly lighter and cloudier now. The airlock is still sparse but we will see how things go this weekend. If by Sunday I haven't had a nice drop in SG I will make a new starter to get things going. Should I keep it at this high temp (79ish)? Or let it settle back down to 74-75?

A quick question, what does YMMV mean?

 

[EvilGnome6]

A quick question, what does YMMV mean?

Your Mileage May Vary...

 

[bknifefight]

Aha! Very good

I can see why this is your favorite yeast. Last night I drank my hydrometer sample and although it was sweet and didn't finish dry, it still tasted great. I can't wait until it is all fermented out and has sat in the bottles for a few months. Those will be good days

 

[EvilGnome6]

I can see why this is your favorite yeast. Last night I drank my hydrometer sample and although it was sweet and didn't finish dry, it still tasted great. I can't wait until it is all fermented out and has sat in the bottles for a few months. Those will be good days

Oh, no doubt. This yeast throws out more flavor than a pound of hops... Well, maybe not quite, but you know what I mean. I usually pitch it cold (around 59F) and let it free rise up to 78F (takes about a day or two). Let it ferment out fully, give it a few weeks in secondary and about 3 weeks in the bottle. It'll be super tasty by then.

Give it a shot in a lower gravity, lightly hopped beer, too. It can make a really delicious session beer.

 

[phasedweasel]

What are the characteristics, flavor and aroma wise, you like of 3787? I've read the description on the Wyeast site but more impressions give you a better idea of how it actually behaves. I didn't like 575 all that much, and I really enjoyed the 1388 I made a blonde with recently.

 

[EvilGnome6]

What are the characteristics, flavor and aroma wise, you like of 3787? I've read the description on the Wyeast site but more impressions give you a better idea of how it actually behaves. I didn't like 575 all that much, and I really enjoyed the 1388 I made a blonde with recently.

Citrus aroma with a hint of grapefruit on the palate. Complex and very Belgian. Gives a clean and refreshing finish. My parents had a visitor from Belgium last fall and I let him try a bottle. He said it was "Een echte Belgische bier!" (A real Belgian beer). I couldn't ask for a better compliment than that.

 

[bknifefight]

I have several vials of the yeast that I have frozen. Up next for it is a dubbel (1.075-1.080 range) and after that, who knows? I should make up a Pale Ale or just a Blonde with it for a low gravity session beer.

 

[EvilGnome6]

I have several vials of the yeast that I have frozen. Up next for it is a dubbel (1.075-1.080 range) and after that, who knows? I should make up a Pale Ale or just a Blonde with it for a low gravity session beer.

Try the Patersbier recipe from Northern Brewer. It's dead simple and delicious:

9 lbs. Belgian Pilsner

1 oz. Tradition (60 min)
0.5 oz. Saaz (10 min)

Mash @ 147° F for 60 minutes

 

[bknifefight]

I'm all extract but that recipe is simple enough to convert.

 

[EvilGnome6]

I'm all extract but that recipe is simple enough to convert.

NB has the extract version as 0.5 lbs CaraPils for steeping with 6 lbs Pilsen malt extract syrup (60 min).

 

[bknifefight]

Sounds about right!

 

[phasedweasel]

Citrus aroma with a hint of grapefruit on the palate. Complex and very Belgian. Gives a clean and refreshing finish. My parents had a visitor from Belgium last fall and I let him try a bottle. He said it was "Een echte Belgische bier!" (A real Belgian beer). I couldn't ask for a better compliment than that.

Thanks, that's very helpful. This will be my next Belgian then after the 3655-Schelde.

 

[bknifefight]

After warming it up to 79-80ish, the carboy is still cloudy with what I assume is the yeast now in suspension again. The airlock is still not doing anything and I cannot see any churning going on in the carboy. Is it safe to assume that if the yeast is suspended that it is doing something or should I be checking the SG to see how it is moving along?

 

[bknifefight]

Just an update for anyone who cares:
Warming it up to 79-80 degrees definitely got the yeast back into suspension but they didn't seem to want to do anything while there.
I pulled a vial of frozen yeast out and made a 1 liter starter with it. The amount of yeast in the vial turned out to not be as much as I had though but the starter looked good. I decanted (and think I lost some yeast during this) and pitched into the tripel. It didn't drop a single point.
I racked the beer off the yeast since it had been sitting there for over 4 weeks and thought the extra rousing of the beer would make a difference. There was no activity after racking.
Right now I have another starter going of 3787 and I am going to make a half batch of a session Belgian Blonde Ale as a stepped up starter. When it finishes, I will wash and pitch the yeast into the tripel to see what happens.