Champagne yeast for primary - can I fix this?

[jbedell2]

First post but I've been getting tons of information from these forums over the last few months - thanks to all posters!

I followed a recipe from brewersfriend.com for a Belgian Triple that I scaled down to 2 gallons. This is my first BIAB and first batch that is not from a kit. When buying the grain at my LHBS, the guy there suggested that I use champagne yeast to save a few bucks rather than buying a $10 tube of WLP545. He suggested that the champagne yeast would have a very high attenuation and leave me with a dry, high ABV tripel. I took his suggestion and brewed the batch on Friday night. It's going strong now, but I just did a few searches and everything I've read here on HBT suggests that he was wrong, and I'll be left with a sweet, cidery beer because the champagne yeast can't convert all malt sugars. Needless to say, I'm concerned about that.

Here's the thing: I also have a batch of Saison brewing, that is just finishing up primary. I used Danstar Belle Saison yeast for that - it was a 1g kit from Northern Brewer. My question is: Should I try to add some yeast from the Saison to the Tripel to help with the complex sugars? If so, should I just transfer a few ounces of beer, or try to get some of the yeast cake from the bottom? I don't want to buy another pack of yeast if I can avoid it.

I appreciate any suggestions! Thanks.
-Josh

 

[Yooper]

Since a Belgian triple gets all of its flavor, the bubblegum/clove/fruity flavors that is, from yeast, champagne yeast is definitely a wrong choice. I'm not sure what you can do now, since it's probably pretty well fermented.

The champagne yeast probably will do ok with the sugars from the beer, since it's probably not very high in complex sugars like maltotriose.

 

[beergolf]

Wow. Time to either find another LHBS or just don't listen to them. The whole thing about Belgian beers is the flavor that comes fom the yeast.

The damage is done now.About all you can do is let it ride out and see what you get.

Good luck.

 

[slym2none]

Yeah, my suggestion is to find another LHBS. Those guys don't seem to know what they are talking about.

 

[jbedell2]

Thanks for the replies. I'm pretty annoyed because I was a bit skeptical toward his suggestion but figured he knew best. He said they make a tripel kit and use that same yeast. I just wish I had done the research before brewing it.

Sounds like trying to add some of the Saison yeast isn't worthwhile even though the primary is less than 48 hours old and still going very strong. I was mostly just thinking it could take care of some of the complex sugars that the champagne yeast will miss.

Fortunately this is only a 2-gallon batch. We'll see what I end up with. Thanks again.

 

[d3track]

545 is my favorite Belgian strain...

Suppose you could use it to blend with something, but it's not going to be what you want as is, sadly.

 

[OG_IBU_Bunghole]

It obviously won't be Belgian in character, but you might like what it turns out to be.

Worst case you probably have some friends who would love some free, highly alcoholic beer who would think it's super cool that you made it

 

[brew_ny]

make another couple of gallons and blend them

 

[jbedell2]

It obviously won't be Belgian in character, but you might like what it turns out to be.

Worst case you probably have some friends who would love some free, highly alcoholic beer who would think it's super cool that you made it

Good point. Hoping for about 10.5%. Unless it tastes absolutely terrible, it will definitely be consumed.

And no matter what, my first BIAB brew was surprisingly successful.

Thanks again for the input everyone.

 

[BigFloyd]

Hope it turns out tasty in spite of the ridiculous yeast-selection advice the LHBS guy gave you for this.

If it makes you feel any better, it's unfortunately not uncommon for some LHBS employees to gave out really bad advice at times. I've overheard some real doozies.

 

[jbedell2]

Just thought I'd give an update in case anyone is interested. I bottled this batch last night. The FG was 1.022, which was quite a bit higher than I expected. Apparent attenuation was 75.3% and ABV is 8.8. I suppose most of the residual sugars were complex and couldn't be utilized by the champagne yeast.

It tasted sweet but not entirely unlike a triple. I wouldn't call it cidery. We'll see how it is once carbed. I'm still curious if adding a second strain of yeast would have helped lower the FG by consuming more of the complex sugars.

Thanks again for everyone's input.

 

[The_Happy_Dachshund_Brewe]

You could brew annother batch and use a real Belgian yeast and the learn a lot of the tastes that come from that yeast that make it taste "Belgian"

And 75% Attenuation are pretty nice I think, have fermented a imp. Stout with CR51 (red wine yeast) and only got 62%