I agree. At about 1.5 years it was quite good but that window closed rapidly. There’s only one 12oz bottle left. And that has a crown cap.
So now to racking. Is a Belgian style better in the bottle or on tap? And should the bottles be the traditional corked types we normally see or are crown caps sufficient?
I cork and cage the traditional bottles just for fun and the presentation factor. I don’t keg because its not a beer I want a lot of at a time, and I don’t want to tie up a keg for months. Thats reserved for lagers.
Keg…drink…yummy. More.
For more on fermenting temps and desired profiles for various yeasts check out this pdf from whitelabs.com
http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/belgianchart.pdf
I wish there were something like this for other yeasts!!!
The last Quad I did I followed a temp schedule recommended by someone who had successfully brewed Westy/Sint Bernardus clones. Start at ~64* F and let free rise to ~82* F or so. I feared fusels, banana, bubblegum, etc. but I went with it (but only reached 76* F) and it is probably the cleanest big Belgian I’ve ever made (but just going from a sample at racking). Surprisingly not hot and no noticable fusels. I’ve gotten fusels keeping it below 68* F for the entire ferment. This was 3787.
Some Belgian yeasts seem to be more finicky/difficult to get right. I’ve not had much luck with Chimay yeast and much better luck with 3787. The others I’ve only used once or twice but I did like the Rochefort yeast (WLP540/WY1762).
Thats good to hear. I’ve pretty much got a phobia about fermenting above 70F and I’ve seen instances where its turned out just fine. Maybe I should reset my phobia to 75F and exclude day 5+.
Brew Like a Monk has a similar chart for Wyeast’s Belgian strains. One for other yeasts would be nice though, wouldn’t it?
That is so cool they ship the sugar in reusable water bottles. It makes me just want to go hug a tree.
3787 rocks.
I picked up a pouch of the D180 to put in the quad I made last Saturday . . Good stuff! I think I’d even prefer it to Hershey’s over my ice cream!
The website is candisyrup.com. I googled candisugar.com and got a realtor, she was cute but not that sweet.
I just ordered a pouch of each of their products, the description sounds good.
I agree with Gordon’s suggestion about starting with lower temps than you’d expect. I just brewed a saison I thought was going to be perfect, but started it at close to 80 degrees (the temperature at which many people recommended) but I got some fusels. I think it would have been better to have started it lower (maybe 68-70 degrees) and let it warm up.
Also, I used to be way big into spices, but the best Belgians I’ve done have just been the result of careful attention to the yeast.
Euge, sage advise coming forward here. I would scrap the candi and go for the D2
when you are making a dubbel… otherwise like in something lighter, candi prolly is a great choice.
I am partial to Jaggery for my belgians when I add sugar, else piloncillo which to me is very similar.
Gordon, I am getting good results with Best Maltz pilz and will prolly stick with that malt.
Also, I add a handful of wheat, and a handful of BELGIAN aromatic and a handful of Carafoam
2 are for the head and the other is for the aromatics…I do this to ALL of my belgians.
Saison yeast that really kicks butt is the WY 3711 it is a monster. But when you use saison yeast
expect a saison beer…
Likely, when you use trappist yeast stay in the trappist venue of beer recipes.
Hops are not promenent IMO and I don’t recall brewing over 40 IBU’s in my calculations.
Just my $.02
sorry to somewhat alter the subject on the thread but…
what about wyeast 3724? I know if you ferment too warm you get fusels, but the Temperature Range is 70-95F per the wyeast specs. I believe its the Dupont strain which is normally fermented closer to 90 as described in “Farmhouse Ales” and on the wyeast site. I made a starter last night and thought about pitching at 65 and then letting rise into the mid to upper 80s. Kinda makes me a little nervous about it, but on the other hand Saison Dupont is pretty tastey! I had been using 3711, but this time I figured why not try the other one too? Anyone have any luck with it or does it turn out too fusely?
Andrew, This off topic thread may shed some light on that question.
Denny told me to let it (3724) ramp WAY up in temp He was NOT kidding.
http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=3250.msg37211#msg37211
And Euge this thread was put up a while back…did ya see it go by?
http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=3264.msg36837#msg36837
thanks! I guess I should have searched for it first… but since we were on the topic of belgians and to a lesser extent fusels I figured I would ask.
It is all good… 
Thanks for the link! I hadn’t seen it before…