Blonde Quad questions

[labninja]

I had bought some WLP 530 on closeout from Johnson's and finally decided to use it a few weeks back so after a bit of planning I made a starter beer planning on trying a big beer, a whole 5 gal batch with the yeast (6 mo. out of date) and it worked. I I used 8 lb pilsner 1 lb wheat 1 lb oats 1lb corn sugar in the starter beer. I got 1.054 for OG and 1.009 FG(brewers friend said FG of 1.014) ANYWAY, I poured the big beer right onto the guts of the smaller one and within 5 days went from 1.123 to 1.040. now after 6 in primary and 5 in secondary it seems I've stabilized at 1.034 (brewers friend said 1.030) I'll try posting the recipe below.

The question I have is with the FG that high do you still put priming sugar in it? Or just bottle and wait a few months?

Note: the recipe called for 16 pounds of Pilsner malt but my first try at a mash tun was an epic fail so I added cane sugar to bring up the OG. otherwise its as posted.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/r ... londe-quad

[Bob_The_Brewer]

What temperature did you ferment at? Big belgians need to have the fermentation ramped up through fermentation to ensure proper attenuation as well as have the yeast generate the spicy/phenol/esters that are desired. 11 total days in the fermenter isn't long enough to complete fermentation, you're looking at at least 2-3 more weeks before it's all said and done, FG may drop a few more points over the next weeks. If you're worried about the FG being too high you can always pitch more yeast but it likely won't go to much lower. When you get to bottling you'll still want to add sugar to ensure the proper level of carbonation. Next time try leaving the beer in the primary for longer, push it to 2-3 weeks in primary and then 2-3 in secondary. That will provide plenty of time for the large portions of the yeast to eat the sugar before taking it off the cake and letting the beer clarify/condition in the secondary.

[labninja]

I started out ferment at about 70 F but it dropped to about 66-68 with the cold snap a while back. But over time the temp has climbed (especially after going to secondary) to 75 F to 78 F which is about ambient in my house. What temp do you think would be desirable? White labs says 66-72 optimum temp. The beer is still in the secondary so no harm done yet I suppose, I wanted to make sure before I tried to bottle it. I guess I'll just put the carboy back in the closet and forget about it for awhile. I knew the bigger beers took longer but I thought it was more of a maturing thing, I guess I didn't realize that it was still in the fermenter. Anyhow, live and learn I'm glad I asked first. Thanks