WLP550. What's up with this yeast?

[Leviathan]

I have attempted 2 tripels with this yeast in the past few months and both have resulted in some serious funky aromas/flavors. Both tripels cosisted solely of pale malt and honey with very light hopping and kept at a temperature of about 67 degrees during fermentation and beyond with an OG of about 1.075 - 1.080. 1500ml starters were made in both cases, from different white labs tubes.

I want to love this yeast. It is the most vigorous strain I have used and has required a blowoff tube on both occasions. It smells absolutely perfect in the starter and at the beginning of fermentation (24-36 hours once it begins): Belgian spiciness and slight bananas. Exactly what I have been looking for when it comes to tripels. Unfortunately this soon gives way to a strange funkiness aroma-wise. It smells somewhat sour and a bit unpleasant. I dumped the first batch after 2 months of aging and now 1 month into the second attempt, it smells roughly the same but not as bad.

The first time I thought this was a fluke but now I'm not so sure. I have brewed 4 batches with different yeasts in between these two that resulted in no off flavors and turned out fine. I suppose it could be contamination but it would seem to be a strange coincidence if this were the case.

What are your experiences with WLP550? Any similar stories? Any ideas on how to combat this? I really want to like this yeast especially because I have it slanted!

EDIT: as i said in my last post, this beer turned out great.

 

[LLBeanJ]

WLP550 is my go-to Belgian yeast and I don't recall ever getting any funky aromas. You say you kept the temp at 67. Was that ambient or the temp of the beer? If it was ambient, a beer of that OG most likely was fermenting in the 80s, given how active that strain tends to be.

 

[Leviathan]

Ambient but 67 was the very top of the range. It was mostly around 63. 80 and above seems a bit high and I pitched at around 60-62 (wort temperature).

However I just decided to pull a sample and do a taste test. The flavor and aroma is a lot better once I let it breathe. I think the beer might just be very young. 1.080 - 1.010 for 9.2%ABV. Extremely alcoholic and spicy! I'm going to bottle in a few weeks and ride it out. Who knows? It might turn out to be great with age. I'm starting to think the first batch had an infection and I was associating that flavor with my new batch.

How would you describe the flavor of this yeast?

 

[LLBeanJ]

You've seen firsthand how active this strain can be. At 1.080 OG, there was lots of fuel available to the yeast and without active temp control, the beer temp can get out of control pretty quickly, easily going from low to mid-60s into the 80s, leading to all kinds of fruity esters and who-knows-what-else. Before I had temp control, I had a similar 1.080 triple that I fermented in my basement at 65° using this strain and it turned out to be a fruit bomb. It tasted very much like a Riesling. It was very good, but it was more like a wine than a beer and had a final ABV of 8.9%. I also let it condition in a keg for about 11 months before I put it on tap.

Flavorwise, this strain is one of the strongest at producing clove phenols, but I've found that they are reduced or completely eliminated by overpitching. As for fruit flavors, I've had it give off white grape and apricot, though now that I have temp control, I try to minimize the production of fruity esters.

At any rate, give it lots of time. If it is harsh or off-tasting now, just stash the bottles away and try one every month or two. As a rule, tripels generally require at least 4-6 months of conditioning before they start to really get good.

 

[Leviathan]

To anyone who finds this thread searching for WLP550: I just bottled the tripel today and it tastes ****ing fantastic. I must have been smelling some CO2 and other strange, gaseous yeast byproducts in the headspace of the carboy.

 

[mbobeira]

Anyone could help me to find a better style or just a good recipe to use a vial of WLP550?

 

[VikeMan]

I've made a bunch of beers with WLP550. Never an issue with off flavors. Used mostly in Belgian Pale Ales, with fermentation temps kept low-ish.