When we brew a Belgian ale (except Saison) it's always a gamble. We tried many fermentation patterns, but somehow, 50% of our batches develop a huge diacetyl aroma. The smell is awfull, starting with the usual caramel-butter aroma then ovetime... like over-the-hill cold cuts. Urgh!
The strange thing is that this will only happen in our Belgian ales !
We tried most WY + WL strains with the same results
In most cases, we pitch at 18c/20c (66F) and let naturally rise to 23c/24c (74F) or higher
We also tried to keep it at 20c, then let it rise higher at the end of fermentation like we do with our English ales
We tried overpitching, underpitching. More oxygen, less oxygen.
We tried leaving the beer naturally crash for a few days, even for a week or two before cooling with jacket.
We tried alot of things!
Lab analysis showed no infections in some batches sampled with that problem.
Beer is fine in the fermenter even when crashed. Then once transfered to BT and kegged, WHAM! It's there.
Any suggestions?
Zb
The strange thing is that this will only happen in our Belgian ales !
We tried most WY + WL strains with the same results
In most cases, we pitch at 18c/20c (66F) and let naturally rise to 23c/24c (74F) or higher
We also tried to keep it at 20c, then let it rise higher at the end of fermentation like we do with our English ales
We tried overpitching, underpitching. More oxygen, less oxygen.
We tried leaving the beer naturally crash for a few days, even for a week or two before cooling with jacket.
We tried alot of things!
Lab analysis showed no infections in some batches sampled with that problem.
Beer is fine in the fermenter even when crashed. Then once transfered to BT and kegged, WHAM! It's there.
Any suggestions?
Zb
Comment