So good, yet, so bad...

[ccfoo242]

Here's my belgian blonde (only 3 days in the bottle so it isn't carbonated yet) on the left, and Leffe Blonde on the right:


I'm very happy with the clarity and color.

But...

Dammit its suffering from some acetaldehyde (apple/cidery)...I only gave it 2 weeks at 50F after fermentation was done. I needed to get it bottled for a local competition on 5/12.  I'm keeping the bottles for competition in a room that stays warm (about 75-77) most of the day. *fingers crossed* hoping it will diminish some before Saturday.

When I re-brew this I think I will bump the fermentation temp by 2 degrees F to try to get some more of that spicy/clove phenolic out of the yeast (I pitched at 64F and slowly raised it to 68F over 7 days). Though, maybe it could be the acetaldehyde is hiding some of it? I don't know.

[majorvices]

Nice job man! If it's acetalahyde it will probably fade in a week or so,

[ccfoo242]

Nice job man! If it's acetalahyde it will probably fade in a week or so,

Thanks, I really hope so. The winner of this category gets to brew it at Green Room Brewing. Our local club has a Belgian contest each year called Comp de L'abbaye Normale, which I just found out this weekend is pronouced Abby Normal...duh! Like from Young Frankenstein. 

[euge]

Very nice clarity.

[jmcamerlengo]

Very nice! I agree if its acetalhyde itll fade soon.

What yeast strain did you use?

[ccfoo242]

Thanks.

What yeast strain did you use?

WLP550 Belgian Ale.  Hopefully once the apple flavor fades I'll be able to taste more spice/clove. If not then I'll guess I'll have to ferment a little warmer next time. It also didn't help that there was a SNAFU at the LHBS when getting my grain. He started filling the hopper with American 2-row. I caught it but there was still a little down in the rollers. I didn't think it would be much but when I got home and weighed the grain I was 1.25 lbs heavier than I should have been. In the end, though, I don't think it mattered. When I brew again I will use just bump the belgian pilsner up by that amount.

[ccfoo242]

How much "apple" aroma/flavor can come from a yeast and NOT be acetaldehyde?

Looking back over this experiment I wonder if I'll always detect apple "see Fruity Yeast Characters):
http://hw.libsyn.com/p/f/5/b/f5bdd300718e4018/KYBelgianYeastExperiment.pdf?sid=bf68c3a17f8026aaa0c0defa3c7db923&l_sid=18257&l_eid=&l_mid=2879620&expiration=1336758975&hwt=f4a570453b545eea7e6212687ffdaff3

[tomsawyer]

The stuff is so clear, I don't think theres any yeast to finish up eating that acetaldehyde.

[ccfoo242]

There's a decent amount settled to the bottom. I tipped the bottles a few times to mix it up and its definitely carbonating. I'm just pissed I didn't start this one 2 weeks earlier.

[jmcamerlengo]

I did a split batch of a Triple with the Rochefort strain and the Chimay strain. The both got indentical treatment.

The chimay strain was full of banana and fruit.

The rochefort was full of green apple and pear.

So I can certainly attest to green apple flavor being part of the yeast character. I haven't had an acetylhyde problem in any of my beers in a long time and it was the first time I used the rochefort strain and the first time I tasted that much pronounced green apple so I have to say it was the yeast giving me that flavor.

[ccfoo242]

Well, neither score sheet noted acetaldehyde so maybe it was just the yeast and the level was normal for this style. I got dinged on carbonation (duh, yeah, I'll plan ahead better next time), clarity (which pisses me off because I know its damned clear), too sweet for style (agreed). I'm happy with it and will eventually brew it again with several tweaks. Even with decent carbonation now I have almost zero head retention. So I guess I'll work something in there like carapils or wheat (??). And I need to dry it out more.

[jmcamerlengo]

There ya go. Dont use carapils if you already got dinged for being too sweet. My vote, up the simple sugar content and make sure it wasnt a process issue that killed your head retention.

[ccfoo242]

There ya go. Dont use carapils if you already got dinged for being too sweet. My vote, up the simple sugar content and make sure it wasnt a process issue that killed your head retention.

Oh, thanks. Shows how little I know about the various malts! 

I at least have some lacing which looks nice, and you wouldn't guess it was 7% alcohol.

I think I'll stick with styles I know better for a while until I'm more comfortable with my process (like you said, it could have been that).

What part of the brewing process could harm head retention?  (I poured into a clean glass and got decent foam at first) It's very fizzy. Contrast that with an extract lager I made at around the same time and its foam is very thick and sticks around for a while. So far this is the worst beer I've made in regards to head retention.

[jmcamerlengo]

There ya go. Dont use carapils if you already got dinged for being too sweet. My vote, up the simple sugar content and make sure it wasnt a process issue that killed your head retention.

Oh, thanks. Shows how little I know about the various malts! 

I at least have some lacing which looks nice, and you wouldn't guess it was 7% alcohol.

I think I'll stick with styles I know better for a while until I'm more comfortable with my process (like you said, it could have been that).

What part of the brewing process could harm head retention?  (I poured into a clean glass and got decent foam at first) It's very fizzy. Contrast that with an extract lager I made at around the same time and its foam is very thick and sticks around for a while. So far this is the worst beer I've made in regards to head retention.

Theres a lot of debate about that. Listen to the brew strong podcast on head retention. Theres so many different things that can affect head retention its ridiculous. I'm having a hard time figuring it out myself, although lately I've noticed much less of a problem.  Ive had situations where a 100% pils malt BoPils you can drop a quarter on the head, and had oatmeal stouts where it goes away immediately.

I guess the first place to start is your mash schedule. What was it?

I use Dingemanns Belgian Pils as my base in all my belgians and have found that a 10 minute protein rest at 131 seems to be the sweet spot.

[denny]

What part of the brewing process could harm head retention?  (I poured into a clean glass and got decent foam at first) It's very fizzy. Contrast that with an extract lager I made at around the same time and its foam is very thick and sticks around for a while. So far this is the worst beer I've made in regards to head retention.

Yeast health, fermentation temp and pitching rate...

http://byo.com/stories/article/indices/35-head-retention/697-getting-good-beer-foam-techniques