Question for Jimmy "the Belgian" Pore

[msjulian]

Looking for a little wisdom from the sage...

I have a quad fermenting right now and wanted to see if things are looking like they should. I started at 1.090 @ 65 deg. Pitched the Wyeast trappist high gravity yeast. After two days the temp climbed to 72 and then to 74 at day three. After 6 days the temp has fallen off back to 70 and the sg was 1.033. After 8 days temp still hanging at 70 and sg down to 1.027. At what point would you rack to a secondary and let it finish out? I am looking to hit 1.015.

Thanks for any advice you may be able to spare...

[sirgiovanni]

You're not going to get there as is I'm afraid. The temp should not have dropped so quickly if you were that far off. I keep temp control on through secondary myself. Cooler house temps might have hurt you some. Did you make a stir plate starter, the right volume? I also need to know more about your mash temp and unfermentable grain ratio. My first high gravity did the same thing. If there are fermentables left you can raise the temp and add another starter. If not, then you will just want to let secondary finish. I typically drop for longer aging after 3 weeks. It will be drinkable either route you want to go, just sweeter.

[msjulian]

Mashed 18.5 lbs of gain @ 150. Added 2 lbs of Dark Belgian syrup and 1 lb Turbinado to the boil. Pitched in the 500 to 600 billion cell range according to calculators. Looking at the fermentor there is still an awful lot of activity going on. The yeast is still churning and the air lock bubbling aggressively. I have the ability to crank the heat in the fermentor if needed. Pulled a sample tonight to get a gravity reading and it has a decent taste so far. It is not as sweet as I was expecting but still on the sweet side.

[sirgiovanni]

ok cool!
My guess is that it just slowed down with the temp drop. If you're like me, you keep your house 4 to 6 degrees cooler this time of year and on a big beer, that can cause it to finish slower if it starts dropping too fast.

If you can keep your temp at your max that you were at, 73-74, and give the fermenter a bit of agitation now and then if you worry the yeast are dropping out, it may help keep them pumping to their bitter end. Sounds like if you are still getting activity you are cool though! Sometimes them big guys just drag on. I think you did good with it all. You might try 148 F next time if it doesn't get down all the way. There's no harm in staying in the fermenter for a good 2 to 3 weeks. I sometimes also notice a couple more points may drop after I drop the beer to carboys and age out a bit too.

I'm writing mobile so if I'm not making sense, pm me and I'll shoot you my number. Can't wait to taste that one. I don't use Wyeast any more so I'm looking forward to checking it out.

[msjulian]

This is my first big Belgian and of coarse I just had to read "Brew like a monk". Not sticking to my standard fermentation temp rules I thought I would let the yeast do all the work and let the temp rise and fall with activity. It didn't really dawn on me until today that I am dealing with a lot less mass then what the guys in the book are woking with. I will crank the temp in my fermentation fridge to 74 and hold it there for the next week and see what she drops to.

Thanks for all the help. The beer I am trying to get close to is a little on the sweet side (a little too sweet for me). I was shooting to make mine a little dryer but we will see.

[sirgiovanni]

Should be a nice trappist representation around 1.015. ;)

Can't wait!

[Don]

Is that 1:015 am or pm?

[sirgiovanni]

Who let the English high gravity on here?

[Don]

Sorry wrong dungeon

[sirgiovanni]

Oh Michael, one other thing; Next time you might consider inverting that cane sugar before adding to the boil with a 1/4 tsp of citric acid. It's a gravity booster and you will have a much more fermentable sugar. That cane theoretically will invert in your wort but the citric really does it quick. For your quad, you can continue the heat until you achieve the color you want. Get yourself a candy sugar thermometer and stay in the 250 F range so you don't burn it. I prefer the flavor this way to directly in the boil.

[msjulian]

Cranked the fermenter up to 73 degrees and now have a 1" layer of yeast cooking away.

IMG_20121218_104755_792.jpg

Really wanting to get to 1.015 but will take anything under 1.021...

[sirgiovanni]

Sounds like she's cookin good again!

[msjulian]

Checked the gravity this morning and it has made it down to 1.021. The air lock has slowed but there is still a good bit of yeast hanging out on top. If I give it a little shake some will drop out but then I can see them churn pretty at the bottom for several minutes.

I think I will let it go another week and then transfer to secondary and store at 66 for a few weeks.

[sirgiovanni]

Sounds like a good plan!