Beer Forum

What's the best way to let the fermentation temp increase for belgians like blonde or golden strong? Do you temp control them to "hold them back" so that they slowly increase in temperature over time, or do you just let them go nuts and then hold them steady at the top? For example, my first AG was a belgian blonde, and it started increasing in temp like mad right away -- I tried to temp control it a bit since Jamil said to let it gradually rise a few degrees over the first week, but it really wanted to jump up in temp right away (maybe because I added some extra table sugar to help hit my #s?). Not sure if I did the right thing by slowing down the temp increase, or if I should have let it go even a little higher.

We've also made a few golden strongs that are just a tad too cloying, IMO, and while it might be because they need to age a bit, I'm wondering if this same fermentation temp issue might have something to do with it.

Thoughts? Thanks!
Kim


I heart

i like to hold them back in the beginning, then let the temp rise gradually. i don't think the golden strong will get less cloying with time. you either need to drop the mash temp, increase the proportion of simple sugar or it didn't have enough yeast to get to the target FG.

Do you have temp control? Personally I like to gradually raise the temp. Like a degree every 8-12 hours. So depending on where you pitched and where you what to end up, it may take several days.

Yep, I have temp control -- that's exactly what I did, but the first few days it seemed like it was working really hard to keep it down (yeah, yeah, save the jokes, neanderthals). Anyway, the final gravity was 1.006, so I figure it's okay. However, I've read that some belgians go up into the 70's, but I can't figure out over what amount of time, and I don't know if that's what we should eventually let our beers do, despite what is says in the recipe. I'm assuming Jamil's recipes, for example, say to max out at 68-70 or whatever, to avoid any of those hot alcohol tastes.... but then again, I don't know what I'm talking about most of the time.

On a different note -- I added extra table sugar to the boil -- will that slight "green apple taste" dissipate over time?

Homey -- thanks for the feedback that the goldens probably won't get less cloying over time. Damn wishful thinking. I will make bigger yeast starters and drop the mash temp next time.

You guys are awesome -
Thanks-
Kim

kimbeerly wrote:for example, say to max out at 68-70 or whatever, to avoid any of those hot alcohol tastes

If your temps get into the 70's at the end of fermentation you'll be fine. Most of your hot alcohols are going to be produced early on in the fermentation. I would think you'd be okay to slowly ramp all the way up to 75F. You will most likely have to get it pretty warm just to keep the yeast moving and to get your FG down.

what was your mash temp originally and how much yeast did you pitch? i dont want to give you any bad advice if youre already mashing and pitching at the optimum rates.

How can I say this...I don't think you should think too scientifically about the rate of temp rise.
I would pitch low, like 68 or under, and not let it go above, say, 72 for the first 2-3 days.
Mainly it's a free rise, so let it do just that and only adjust it if your ambient temp is too high or too low.

It's always better to check the temp at what you have decided to be the max temp, than to notice it's too hot and decide to cool it. Other than that, just relax and over time you will get a feel for what temp range you get the best yeast profile out of FOR YOUR TASTES.

Brew Strong!

kimbeerly wrote:What's the best way to let the fermentation temp increase for belgians like blonde or golden strong? Do you temp control them to "hold them back" so that they slowly increase in temperature over time, or do you just let them go nuts and then hold them steady at the top? For example, my first AG was a belgian blonde, and it started increasing in temp like mad right away -- I tried to temp control it a bit since Jamil said to let it gradually rise a few degrees over the first week, but it really wanted to jump up in temp right away (maybe because I added some extra table sugar to help hit my #s?). Not sure if I did the right thing by slowing down the temp increase, or if I should have let it go even a little higher.

We've also made a few golden strongs that are just a tad too cloying, IMO, and while it might be because they need to age a bit, I'm wondering if this same fermentation temp issue might have something to do with it.

Thoughts? Thanks!
Kim


I heart

I was listening to Jamil's Belgian Golden Strong show the other day. I think he said he starts out at 64 and lets it get to 82 over the course of a week or two.

I think you want to hold the temp back in the first part of fermentation increasing your hold temp 1-2 deg per day as you mentioned. Once you are 1/3 to 1/2 into your fermentation you can let it free rise up to your max temp.

I ferment in sanke kegs and can't see the krausen, so what I started doing recently is recording the "pulse" of the fermentation in bubbles per minute. I count bubbles for 15 sec and multiply by 4. Do this 2-3 times per day and record the pulse and the temp. You can see when fermentation is just starting to slow down and you need to increase your fermentation temp to help it finish out.