[macbrewdaddy]

I live in the Caribbean and since not brewing for almost 4 years in college I'm finally going to get back into it.  I have everything ready to go.  When I was in the states in February, I picked up some liquid yeast.  I chose to get belgian yeasts due to the hot temperatures.  I brought back 4 vials, 2 of Belgian Ale Blend, 1 Saison, and 1 Abbey Ale.

I know that these yeasts should add a bit of fruitiness, but how noticeable will that really be?  I had only brewed with liquid yeast once or twice before.  I am planning to do an IPA, so seemingly the fruitiness will not be that bad of a thing, but wanted to see what people's opinion was, as I do also have Safale 05 and 04 dry yeast (which can be acquired here in Colombia, liquid yeast can't).  Originally I was planning on using the Beligan Ale Blend, but I started to second guess myself for both questions of flavor and logistics (I'm going to post another question about propagating those 4 vials and about starters). 

What do you think go with the liquid or dry this first run?  I am leaning towards just doing the dry this time, as its the first batch here and will be a learning process just going through it with different more improvised equipment and with the heat.  Then having that as a baseline, later brewing the same beer with the liquid will be a good learning experience for me as a brewer on the impact of the yeast.

[chumley]

FWIW, I brewed a Belgian blonde with the Belgian blend.  I started in the low 60s, and in two days I ramped it up to 80 (I was aiming for low 70s, but I overshot my target).  In the final product, the fruity esters take a back seat to the spicy phenolics.  I was a little disappointed at first, but after a month in the keg in the kegerator, the phenolics have tamed a bit and the result is a very nice beer.

I made a 1.5 L starter with the vial for a 5 gallon batch. OG was 1.060 or so.

[denny]

If you want to make a traditional IPA, you'd be better off with 05 than any of the others.  You can indeed make IPA with a Belgian yeast as long as what you;re going for isn't what you usually think of as IPA.  BTW, it's kind of incorrect to think of Belgian yeasts for high temps.  Although many Belgian brewers finish fermentation at higher temps, most start at lower temps (62-65F).

[morticaixavier]

us-05 is a great yeast for IPAs, APAs, american wheats, any yeast neutral style really. the effect of belgian yeast is VERY apparent in my opinion and will define the beer. As Denny says you CAN use it for an IPA but you won't get a standard IPA. it will be a BELGIAN IPA.

Also, +1 to Denny's comment about starting cool and letting the temp ramp up at the end. I can't tell you how many times I have tasted a belgian ale or saison that was started warm because, well, it's belgian, and I've been floored by almost instant pounding headaches from the fusel alcohols.

Be kind, don't start fermentation warm.

[erockrph]

US-05 and S-04 will do quite well for almost any American (US-05) or English (S-04) beer style. But there aren't many good dry substitutes for Belgian styles. If you want to brew a Belgian-style IPA, then use one of the Belgian yeasts. Otherwise, stick with the 05 for an American IPA, or 04 for an English IPA.

One other tip: If your local homebrew shop doesn't store their dry yeasts in the fridge, then grab a few packs with the longest expiration dates and keep them in the fridge at home.

[macbrewdaddy]

ok, thanks for the replies.  I think I will go the dry yeast route here, maybe later try it with the belgian to see what the difference is.  I got the belgian yeast specifically because it seemed to be the best bet to function well in a hot environment.  I simply can't run the air conditoner day and night, It'd quadruple my power bill.  What I may end up doing is plan to pitch in the evening and run the air so that it stays around 68 for 24 hours.  which would give it about a 40 hour start at cool temperatures before going with only the swamp cooler to keep it cool.  Its a less than ideal situation, but when its 90 degrees everyday with no central a/c and the brew likely going in the empty bedroom, its just not feasible to keep the temperature steady at below 70.  luckily it does stay relatively cool in the apartment, so while its probably going to be more in the 75 range, it won't be stifling hot either.

on another note, what about using the belgian yeast in beers with fruit?  it would seem to not have as much of an affect.  I've considered doing a stout at some point with corozo (somewhat comparable to cherry) and incorporating some mango (the stout im not so sure its a good idea, but the mango would seem to mesh ok with the belgian yeast, wash thinking of a light mango ale or even mango ipa.  I also think doing a belgian white with mango in place of the orange could be interesting).

and no local brew shop, I can order dry yeast from the capital, got several packs and will keep them in the fridge.

[morticaixavier]

belgian yeast will always taste belgian. You can reduce the affect by... fermenting cool but they will always taste belgian. that said, belgian ales with fruit can be quite nice indeed. Stout has a long history in the tropics as well so that's a style to keep in mind. the strong flavors of the beer can stand up to other strong flavors, like sorghum, heady tropical fruits, and the like.

google 'son of fermentation chiller' for some ideas on low cost, existing equipment controlled temp fermentation on the cheap!

[Iliff Ave]

"I also think doing a belgian white with mango in place of the orange could be interesting"

I just did a pineapple wit that turned out very good using T58 dry yeast. I think mango would be delicious.

[denny]

"I also think doing a belgian white with mango in place of the orange could be interesting"

I just did a pineapple wit that turned out very good using T58 dry yeast. I think mango would be delicious.

I made a mango wit once.  After a few glasses, it had a remarkable laxative effect.