Belgian IPA - Bottle Conditioning

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by Spider889, Jun 10, 2012.

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  1. Spider889

    Spider889 Pooh-Bah (1,933) Mar 24, 2010 Ohio
    Pooh-Bah

    Hey all,

    This was my first ever Belgian ale and the bottles are conditioning right now (about a week in). The Belgian yeast character is more faint than I hoped. I didn't heat the beer during fermentation but did allow it to ferment at its own will upstairs where the ambient temp was averaging 72-74 degrees.

    I realize that during primary fermentation the most aromatics will be created. My question is if I let the bottles sit in the garage to finish conditioning (weather in the 80's right now) will that aid the yeast aroma/flavor at all or just push me into risking having bottle bombs on my hands?

    Thanks for the advice!
     
    #1 Spider889, Jun 10, 2012
  2. ororke5000

    ororke5000 Initiate (0) Dec 16, 2008 Ohio

    prob not, but maybe experiment with a 6 pack and see what happens.

    what yeast did you use? how many oz of hops did use? could be that the hops are masking some of the esters from the yeast. maybe as the hops fade the yeast will shine.
     
    #2 ororke5000, Jun 11, 2012
  3. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    There's really not any significant yeast growth happening while bottle carbing. So you won't get any significant new yeast derived flavors at this point.
     
    #3 VikeMan, Jun 11, 2012
  4. Spider889

    Spider889 Pooh-Bah (1,933) Mar 24, 2010 Ohio
    Pooh-Bah

    Yeah, that's what I figured. I might still try a sixer in there just to see.

    I had a little over 4oz total in there... Pacific Jade/Motueka for FW and a ton of Motueka at the end of the boil. The hop aroma isn't super prominent, but I agree that the aroma at least may be getting checked on both ends (yeast vs hops) thus canceling each other out or muddling each other to some extent.

    The flavor I suppose could be the result of the FW hopping, I have been doing this a lot lately to great effect, though the hop flavor is almost sweet and very unique. In this beer I had no boil additions between the FW hops and the last 15 min addition (on a 90 minute boil).

    Yeast strain was the Duvel (1388).
     
    #4 Spider889, Jun 11, 2012
  5. kjyost

    kjyost Initiate (0) May 4, 2008 Canada (MB)

    That could easily be the cause of weak esters... 3787 is a much more expressive strain, and Duvel is very subdued...
     
    #5 kjyost, Jun 11, 2012
  6. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    “ …3787 is a much more expressive strain, and Duvel is very subdued...” +1 to that!

    I have used 3787 many, many times. It is my preferred yeast for my ‘house’ Belgian Ale which is essentially a Dubbel. My experience is that if you ferment with 3787 in the 70-72°F range it will produce an ale with a significant ‘Belgiany’ taste; a wonderful combination of ester and phenol flavors/aromas.

    I used 1388 once to brew a clone of Duvel. Even with a warm ferment I found 1388 to be a somewhat neutral yeast.

    Cheers!
     
    #6 JackHorzempa, Jun 11, 2012
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