Belgian Wit FG

[ChefBrew]

My Belgian wit started off at 1.042. It's been over two weeks and it's now at 1.020. Do you think I should let it ride some more. Or can I bottle it?

 

[Bob]

I'd let it ride a bit more. It's your beer; it's not like it's pre-sold! Your ferment should have gone lower than that, should have finished by now; you should be down around 1.010.

That said, let me ask you some questions.

Extract or all-grain?
What yeast?
Recipe?
Fermentation temperature?
Procedure?

List those for us, and let's see if we can figure out what went wrong and what to do about it.

Cheers,

Bob

 

[Saccharomyces]

My experience with the Wit yeast (like many Belgians) is that it can be slow to attenuate. It may help to swirl the fermenter gently and move it to a warmer place to encourage it to finish.

I would not bottle at 1.020 without having it stay at that gravity for a week. Bottle bombs are not good.

 

[Kauai_Kahuna]

I vote wit yeast as the most lazy I have ever used. It takes around a month for it to ferment out even with nutrient added and rousting the yeast often.
Give it time, it kind of messed up my brewing schedule on my first wit, but the end taste is worth it.

 

[Jilaman]

+1 to lazy wit yeast, both Wyeast and White Labs seem to be some couch potato yeasts.

 

[Hagen]

Wyeast 3944, the Homer Simpson of yeast! Mine's still creeping along 2 weeks and 3 days into it. Your average wit should finish between 1.008 and 1.012.

 

[bmckee56]

I also have the Belgian Wit working in a secondary now for 6 days and the airlock still shows signs of active fermentation. I also have a descent amount of Krausen at the top of the carboy. I used the White Labs WLP400 Belgian Wit Ale Yeast. After 7 days (in the primary), I opened it up and found a huge amount of yeast caked to the sides (one of the reasons I am thinking of using a carboy as a primary), so I transfered it all to the secondary. I also transferred a good amount of the yeast caked on the sides to the carboy. My fermentation continues and I was going to wait until Wednesday of next week to check the F.G.

So...... Is it normal to have an extreme amount of yeast, caked to the side of the primary after 7 days? If it continues to ferment, does that indicate I still have a good batch of Belgian Wit brewing away? I wish I had pictures to post, but my better half (not so much right now) had the camera hidden away and I could not locate it at the time.

I have a gut feeling that all is fine, but I am new to the homebrew (beer) thing and have many doubts and fears.

Thanks for any suggestions or guidance.

Salute!

 

[Kauai_Kahuna]

Yes, its normal, I use glass carboys and it caked up on the ridges. It is just a slow yeast, hopefully you racked enough yeast over to keep fermentation going.
I pushed it also, but here is my last time line.
20080829 Started.
20080903 Racked to secondary - needed the carboy SG: 1.030
20080924 Racked to keg, in kegerator to age.
20081020 Tasting good - a little bitterness.

 

[adarelme]

I also have the Belgian Wit working in a secondary now for 6 days and the airlock still shows signs of active fermentation. I also have a descent amount of Krausen at the top of the carboy. I used the White Labs WLP400 Belgian Wit Ale Yeast. After 7 days (in the primary), I opened it up and found a huge amount of yeast caked to the sides (one of the reasons I am thinking of using a carboy as a primary), so I transfered it all to the secondary. I also transferred a good amount of the yeast caked on the sides to the carboy. My fermentation continues and I was going to wait until Wednesday of next week to check the F.G.

So...... Is it normal to have an extreme amount of yeast, caked to the side of the primary after 7 days? If it continues to ferment, does that indicate I still have a good batch of Belgian Wit brewing away? I wish I had pictures to post, but my better half (not so much right now) had the camera hidden away and I could not locate it at the time.

I have a gut feeling that all is fine, but I am new to the homebrew (beer) thing and have many doubts and fears.

Thanks for any suggestions or guidance.

Salute!

I made a Belgian Wit 2 month ago. ( all but 2 bottles left) I had the same issue. but after 2 weeks in secondary, it was fine. My OG was 1.074 and
FG was 1.010.

 

[ChefBrew]

I'd let it ride a bit more. It's your beer; it's not like it's pre-sold! Your ferment should have gone lower than that, should have finished by now; you should be down around 1.010.

That said, let me ask you some questions.

Extract or all-grain?
What yeast?
Recipe?
Fermentation temperature?
Procedure?


Bob

Here's the recipe, Bob. Thanks,

Malt Extract: Wheat 6 lbs.
Honey, Corn Sugar or Candi Sugar 0.5 lbs.

Grain Bill: CaraPils 7 oz
Belgian Aromatic 1 oz
Hopping Schedule: #1 Saaz (4.2%) 1.0 oz 60 min
#2 Saaz 0.5 oz 5 min
#3 Coriander 0.7 oz 5 min
#4 Bitter Orange Peel 0.5 oz 5 min
Starting Gravity: 1.042
Fermentation Temp: 65-75 degrees F.
Yeast: Wyeast 3944 Belgian White
or White Labs WLP400 Belgian Wit Beer

 

[Bob]

Okay. That's a start. Now, which yeast did you actually use?

Bob

 

[ChefBrew]

Whoops! It was the 400

 

[Bob]

Okay, I'm showing an OG of 1048. According to White Labs, WLP400 has an apparent attenuation of 74-78%. Even at the lowest end of that range, you should be finishing around 1013 - given that sufficient yeast was pitched into a sufficiently aerated wort of the appropriate temperature.

So. How much yeast did you pitch, how did you aerate, and what temperatures did the ferment see?

Bob

 

[ChefBrew]

Well, I pitched one bottle, no starter. I think I had relly good aeration; I put the wart in one bucket, set it on my counter, and let it flow freely into another bucket on the floor. Lots and lots of air got put in. I even had a little overflow of the Krausen. The ferment saw a range from 60 - 75. At one point I think it reached 80, but not for long. I've just done a starter for my next batch, I think I like it and might start relying on this practice. Thanks for taking the time, Bob.

By the way, the color on my Wit is beautiful.

 

[Bob]

Thanks for the update!

I think you're suffering from underpitching a lazy yeast strain. That's a compound problem you're simply not going to overcome at this point by anything other than patience or pitching another yeast. You could pitch a packet of dry yeast just to finish it off, if you're in a hurry. Underpitching tends to cause and overload of ester production, so your flavor profile might not be significantly impacted.

I'd not bother, though, and just wait it out. You were at 48% apparent attenuation on the 19th, and that should continue to slowly drop. Rouse the yeast with a sanitized stainless-steel or plastic spoon if it's in a bucket, swirl the vessel if it's in a carboy. It's Witbier yeast, so it's never going to completely flocculate, but keeping it roused is going to help it remain active. Also, keep it between 70 and 75F.

Cheers,

Bob

 

[ChefBrew]

Sounds good. I'll check it ASAP. Lot's of work to do. I'll keep you posted.

 

[ChefBrew]

So, I checked again today and sure enough the gravity was 1013. This was my first Belgian, I guess I've learned something: Belgian yeast is a lazy SOB. Have patience. Ofcourse, patience. I knew that.

One thing I think I screwed up on though, is the fact that I transferred this batch to a secondary. I know that Wits are supposed to be "cloudy",but that's not why I did it. I guess I just paniced when after two weeks I noticed that I hadn't reached a good gravity. It's actually pretty clear now, we'll see how it turns out in the glass..mmm. Like I said, lesson learned.

Thanks, Bob, for your advice.

 

[ChefBrew]

Well, I pitched one bottle, no starter. I think I had relly good aeration; I put the wart in one bucket, set it on my counter, and let it flow freely into another bucket on the floor. Lots and lots of air got put in. I even had a little overflow of the Krausen. The ferment saw a range from 60 - 75. At one point I think it reached 80, but not for long. I've just done a starter for my next batch, I think I like it and might start relying on this practice. Thanks for taking the time, Bob.

By the way, the color on my Wit is beautiful.

Almost five years later and I've finally gotten around to brewing again. I'm brewing the exact same recipe of Belgian Wit as when I made the original post. This time I made a starter. What a difference! I've gotten 75% attenuation in exactly one week. Not so slow this time.

Transferring to secondary today.

 

[RM-MN]

Almost five years later and I've finally gotten around to brewing again. I'm brewing the exact same recipe of Belgian Wit as when I made the original post. This time I made a starter. What a difference! I've gotten 75% attenuation in exactly one week. Not so slow this time.

Transferring to secondary today.

Why? To clear it up? A Belgian wit should be cloudy. To free up a fermenter? Bucket fermenters are cheap and it isn't worth the effort and chance of infection to move it to secondary for that.:rockin: