SirSpectre
Well-Known Member
Hello everyone!
I've been brewing belgians my entire time brewing (going on 3 years now). I can't ever seem to get that Belgian character that I'm looking for. Ive done about 30 batches and It seems I can get all the spicy clove out of every yeast strain out there, but I want those fruity esters. Or I've been getting more malt character out of it and the yeast is kind of in the background. My recent batches are, a dubbel, tripel, and a quad. They all seem to be really clean tasting with more of the malt character rather than yeast.
Quad I know I used way to much special B (only about 8oz) but its really over powering from the pils pale and 2.5lbs of dark candy sugar. Not much esters or spicy notes to it. Ambient temp is 62, pitched at 64, let rise to 70 in 2 days, then 2 degrees a day for 7 days to 82 degrees, then back down to 64 over 2 weeks. Westmalle strain of yeast.
Tripel used Ardennes yeast. Pils, pale, caravienne, aromatic malt, torrified wheat, clear sugar. Best success yet I suppose. I can definitely taste the spicy phenols in it and just a slight ester profile. I was expecting much more. Pitched at 64, rise to 70 in 2 days, held at 75 for 2 weeks. Been in bottle for 5 weeks, a little warming, but not hot. Tried it after a week and it was a little grainy. 5 weeks its better, but still not a rockstar tripel.
The dubbel was also ardennes yeast. Pils, munich, c40, caramunich, special b, D90. Really strong malt character, ( i didn't use that much munich 2 lbs) Same fermentation schedule as the tripel. The specialty malts are showing a decent amount here. I was expecting a drier finish and much more caramel, dark fruits. This one tastes super clean and its driving me nuts.
All beers oxygenated with pure O2. Time based on OG. Servomycese nutrient used in all beers.
Pitch rate is .6m cells per mL per degree Plato.
I know a lot of Belgian breweries go more or less than this.
I am brewing a Belgian blond this weekend with W1388 and going hot. Pitch at 66, rise to 74 within 36 hours, and rising to 80 and holding for a few weeks.
I guess over all, my Belgians are turning out too clean with some very few exceptions. It seems terminal gravity is achieved in 3-4 days. Should I go hotter? raise temp faster? Less yeast? More yeast?
I've been brewing belgians my entire time brewing (going on 3 years now). I can't ever seem to get that Belgian character that I'm looking for. Ive done about 30 batches and It seems I can get all the spicy clove out of every yeast strain out there, but I want those fruity esters. Or I've been getting more malt character out of it and the yeast is kind of in the background. My recent batches are, a dubbel, tripel, and a quad. They all seem to be really clean tasting with more of the malt character rather than yeast.
Quad I know I used way to much special B (only about 8oz) but its really over powering from the pils pale and 2.5lbs of dark candy sugar. Not much esters or spicy notes to it. Ambient temp is 62, pitched at 64, let rise to 70 in 2 days, then 2 degrees a day for 7 days to 82 degrees, then back down to 64 over 2 weeks. Westmalle strain of yeast.
Tripel used Ardennes yeast. Pils, pale, caravienne, aromatic malt, torrified wheat, clear sugar. Best success yet I suppose. I can definitely taste the spicy phenols in it and just a slight ester profile. I was expecting much more. Pitched at 64, rise to 70 in 2 days, held at 75 for 2 weeks. Been in bottle for 5 weeks, a little warming, but not hot. Tried it after a week and it was a little grainy. 5 weeks its better, but still not a rockstar tripel.
The dubbel was also ardennes yeast. Pils, munich, c40, caramunich, special b, D90. Really strong malt character, ( i didn't use that much munich 2 lbs) Same fermentation schedule as the tripel. The specialty malts are showing a decent amount here. I was expecting a drier finish and much more caramel, dark fruits. This one tastes super clean and its driving me nuts.
All beers oxygenated with pure O2. Time based on OG. Servomycese nutrient used in all beers.
Pitch rate is .6m cells per mL per degree Plato.
I know a lot of Belgian breweries go more or less than this.
I am brewing a Belgian blond this weekend with W1388 and going hot. Pitch at 66, rise to 74 within 36 hours, and rising to 80 and holding for a few weeks.
I guess over all, my Belgians are turning out too clean with some very few exceptions. It seems terminal gravity is achieved in 3-4 days. Should I go hotter? raise temp faster? Less yeast? More yeast?