Banana and Fusels in my Belgian after 1 week

[mullenium]

ay yay yay!

I pitched my Belgian Dark Strong at 75 degrees, the next few days we had a little heat wave, I keep my brews in a small cool closet. but during those days i noticed the ambient temp in the closet got to 72, then 74, then i think i remember seeing 76 at one point.

4 days after pitching the ambient temp went back to the mid 60's and a week later ambient temp is 60 degrees... UGH what luck

OG was 1.086 and SG after 1 week is 1.026

i drank the sample from my thief and theres an apparent banana flavor and a slight fusel burn.

did i F this batch up? were getting another heat wave this weekend with outside temps projected to hit the 90's

should I macguyver up a bucket with cold water in preperation or is it too late to save this beer now?

 

[MotorcycleMatt]

Too late now, they might age out a little bit but cooling it now won't do it any good.

The swamp cooler is a good idea for the begining of fermentation.

 

[mullenium]

Too late now, they might age out a little bit but cooling it now won't do it any good.

The swamp cooler is a good idea for the begining of fermentation.

yeah what sucks is I have a big rope bucket i couldve used but being that this is my third ever brew I didnt think to use it.

now Ill probably us it on every brew

 

[homebrewdad]

After one week, you know nothing about a Belgian strong dark.

It sounds to me like this definitely fermented too warm, but I would expect some alcohol burn out of even a pefect BSD in such a short timeframe. You are talking about a beer that takes, at minimum, months to age properly. I personally would not crack a bottle at less than six months, and would fully expect them to age (and likely improve) more with extended time beyond that.

 

[mullenium]

After one week, you know nothing about a Belgian strong dark.

It sounds to me like this definitely fermented too warm, but I would expect some alcohol burn out of even a pefect BSD in such a short timeframe. You are talking about a beer that takes, at minimum, months to age properly. I personally would not crack a bottle at less than six months, and would fully expect them to age (and likely improve) more with extended time beyond that.

How long should I leave it in the primary? just when its done fermenting?

then do I bottle and leave the bottles at room temp for months?

 

[homebrewdad]

How long should I leave it in the primary? just when its done fermenting?

then do I bottle and leave the bottles at room temp for months?

Every brewer does things their own way, of course. For a big, dark beer like this, I do a 4 week minimum primary, followed by an extended bulk aging in secondary (2-4 months, maybe more).

Some do not bulk age, but bottle directly from primary. That's fine, too. I think you get quicker, more consistent aging from doing it in bulk, but my evidence is all anecdotal.

Regardless, though, there's no way I'd rush this beer into bottles. If you don't secondary, maybe consider a 6-8 week primary.

And yes, leave those bottles at room temp (or cellar temp) to age. Don't be surprised if you see the beer improving even up to a year or more. Belgian strong dark is a complex, dark, boozy beer, and those just seem to do best with age.

 

[beergolf]

Every brewer does things their own way, of course. For a big, dark beer like this, I do a 4 week minimum primary, followed by an extended bulk aging in secondary (2-4 months, maybe more).

Some do not bulk age, but bottle directly from primary. That's fine, too. I think you get quicker, more consistent aging from doing it in bulk, but my evidence is all anecdotal.

Regardless, though, there's no way I'd rush this beer into bottles. If you don't secondary, maybe consider a 6-8 week primary.

And yes, leave those bottles at room temp (or cellar temp) to age. Don't be surprised if you see the beer improving even up to a year or more. Belgian strong dark is a complex, dark, boozy beer, and those just seem to do best with age.

Homebrew dad makes some good points. Big Belgians really are not like other brews. They are a different animal.Belgian yeasts can take their time to get the last few points of attenuation. So it is best to err on the side of too long as opposed to short before bottling.

I have done it both ways he mentioned. I have done 6- 8 week primary and then bottle and age for months. Using that method 4 months in the bottles seems to be the magic number. That is about the time the flavor starts to get really good.

I also do a shorter primary. 4-5 weeks and then a long (several months) secondary. This works too. This seems to age them enough that less time in the bottle is needed to reach it's best flavor.

Belgians do really improve with age so it is best to give themplenty of time to get really good. I have some that are over two years old that are fantastic.

 

[BansheeRider]

I thought Belgians like warmer temps. The optimum temp for the yeast you used is 65-75 degrees.

 

[mullenium]

I thought Belgians like warmer temps. The optimum temp for the yeast you used is 65-75 degrees.

weird, if that's the case im probably good to go with a little time letting it sit like mentioned above..

next time though im going to try to keep it as low as possible of the spectrum

 

[BansheeRider]

I just brewed a Belgian blonde with wyeast 3787 high gravity yeast. The beer is at FG after 1 week but i will probably leave it in primary for another 2 weeks and then age in secondary for 3-4 weeks. The temp range for this yeast is 64-78 degrees. I fermented at 68 for 4 days and then moved the primary to a warmer location for the duration. It's been at 70-74 degrees now for a week. I tasted the beer while grabbing a gravity sample and it's delicious.

I bet your beer will be fine after some aging. Your gravity of 1026 is still a bit high I think, so the yeast still have some work to do. Also when you bottle with priming sugar you will drop a couple points as well. The off flavors now should be gone when they are carbed and ready to drink.

Edit: Just took a gravity reading for the hell of it and after 12 days it's still dropping, it's at 1008 and the OG was 1063. This is my first belgian and it appears the yeast just keeps chugging along. Anyways...just give your yeast some time to clean up and it'll be good

 

[beergolf]

I thought Belgians like warmer temps. The optimum temp for the yeast you used is 65-75 degrees.

The thing that keeps getting repeated on the forum is that Belgian yeasts like hot temps. This is not really true, but partially true. They do not like it hot to start, but getting it hot for finish is OK.

If you get Belgian yeasts too hot too fast they produce headache producing fusels. They need to be pitched at the low end of the temp range, held there for a few days and then ramped up to finish.

 

[MotorcycleMatt]

I thought Belgians like warmer temps. The optimum temp for the yeast you used is 65-75 degrees.

Yea, but with his ambient temps it could have gotten all the way up to 80 or so.

 

[RIC0]

The thing that keeps getting repeated on the forum is that Belgian yeasts like hot temps. This is not really true, but partially true. They do not like it hot to start, but getting it hot for finish is OK.

If you get Belgian yeasts too hot too fast they produce headache producing fusels. They need to be pitched at the low end of the temp range, held there for a few days and then ramped up to finish.

My thought as well. I've been brewing more big belgians lately than anything. I start them out 66-68 it starts warming up and after 4-5 days I leter get about 72-74 and try to hold it there until it quits fartin thru the airlock.

I have areas of my house that have different temps so I move the primary when the time is right. For instance above It went from the basement to upstairs in a closet.