I hate Belgian yeast

[simple one]

I have made a Trippel style, a Single style and wheat beer all from 1214, and T58 in the wheat beer. Is it just me or are these yeasts rubbish! I have tried fermenting at different temps, and there is a slight bit of fruityness in the Trippel. But the yeast taste is overpoweringly bland, it masks everything. I wouldn't even say its spicy either, just fuzzy.

Be prepared to ferment high and power up the IBUs and malt. I'll never use 1214 again.

Anyone had sucsess with these yeasts?

[adm]

I like 1214 a lot - in fact I just kegged a Singel type beer yesterday and it really smelled of pear drops and cloves. I'm brewing a Dubbel with it today.

I think you need to ferment it at quite a high temperature to get the best out of it though - I've been using it at about 24C and getting good results, however in "Brew Like a Monk", they mention temperatures up as high as 29C!

[6470zzy]

I have used 1214 many times for dubbels and strong darks and for me it has been always a successful experience, alot of esters and that real Abbey feel to it. T-58 is not a bad yeast either in its own right , I tend to get clove out of that one and its a strong fermenter.

Cheers

[simple one]

Maybe I am being a tad to conservative with the temperatures. The only one I got the pear drops with was the Trippel. I went as high as 24C with that one. But it faded a bit once the fermentation was over.

[simple one]

After having some friends round I think I have been over critical about the trippel and the wheat beer, they went down a storm. The singel style is still guff.

Its now with a sore head, that I don't hate Belgian yeasts now. They just aren't great with hops.

[simple one]

Or malt.

[simple one]

No... I am sticking to my guns. I hate the stuff. Used WLP 530, and it's just not cutting it in the flavour stakes. Masks everything. What is the point in even having a recipe? I guess that's why they have to make them so alcoholic, so you don't mind what your drinking. I think this will be the last Belgian beer I brew.


British ales are so much more tasty and complex.
No wonder you have to brew like a monk, with Belgian yeasts you need to pray.

Rant ended.

[jmc]

I like 1214 a lot - in fact I just kegged a Singel type beer yesterday and it really smelled of pear drops and cloves. I'm brewing a Dubbel with it today.

I think you need to ferment it at quite a high temperature to get the best out of it though - I've been using it at about 24C and getting good results, however in "Brew Like a Monk", they mention temperatures up as high as 29C!

+1 to adm

I've used Chimay yeast (1214) harvested from a Chimay Red and I've been very happy with results.
I start low for a day or so at 19C then raise 1C per day to 24C. Definite Belgian flavour, especially when young.

I also really like Duvel yeast (again harvested) really gets going at 24C+.

[De-Geert]

British ales are so much more tasty and complex.

So, don't you like your Belgian beers or Belgian beers in general?

In the first case you're doing something wrong, in the second case: just don't brew them

[boingy]

I'm loving the extended rant. A bit light on volume but top marks on the elapsed time. I especially like the partial u-turn in the middle and then the absolute reversal of the u-turn a mere two years later... Nice one.

As for Belgian yeasts, I don't care much because I'm not a particular fan of Belgian beers. In particular, I think those monks should allocate more of their land to growing hops rather than malt...

[jason123]

Its great to see JBK members have the staying power though.

[simple one]

More Rant

Decent Belgian beers stand out, because the poor ones are awful. I admire the art of making decent (even half decent) Belgian beers because essentially it's making a beer out of a very standard recipe, and then for good measure adding a yeast that will just crap all over your recipe.
I would say that homebrewing a Belgian is the same... you can do everything right up until the yeast goes in. Then it's cross fingers. What flavour will I get? Who knows? Even with temp control there is a lot of play in the flavour. But one thing you can be sure of is that it will mask all of the recipe.

Just feel like what's the point?

I have said before that I think some beer festival beers are solely there as a joke to see if any idiot will buy (and drink) them. I can here the faint laughter from over the channel as they dig in to our exports.

Rant over.

[Spud395]

Dunno S1, I've a Dubbel here that I fermented with 1214 and I think it's rather good

[jmc]

More Rant

Decent Belgian beers stand out, because the poor ones are awful. I admire the art of making decent (even half decent) Belgian beers because essentially it's making a beer out of a very standard recipe, and then for good measure adding a yeast that will just crap all over your recipe.
I would say that homebrewing a Belgian is the same... you can do everything right up until the yeast goes in. Then it's cross fingers. What flavour will I get? Who knows? Even with temp control there is a lot of play in the flavour. But one thing you can be sure of is that it will mask all of the recipe.

Just feel like what's the point?

I have said before that I think some beer festival beers are solely there as a joke to see if any idiot will buy (and drink) them. I can here the faint laughter from over the channel as they dig in to our exports.

Rant over.

I love the fact that the yeast in Belgian Beers has such a significant affect on the final flavour.

I think it just makes brewing more interesting as its another variable in the equation.

The typical traditional (UK/US) ale yeast is subservient to the malts and hops used in the recipe and temperature is not as critical.
That's not a bad thing as I love UK ales and US hop bombs....But a Belgian brew is different

Hops are generally minor players and the yeast is a very big player.
Not just which yeast you use, and the amount of viable yeast, but also the temperature of each fermentation stage greatly effects the resulting flavour and aroma.

More Variety = More Fun

There are many average Belgian brews, however I have to say hat's off to the best Belgian brewers who can cope with the complexities of all of this and produce reliably lovely beers.

ATB
John

[De-Geert]

But one thing you can be sure of is that it will mask all of the recipe.

So you think the yeast is not a part of the recipe?
I think this shows an significant difference in brewing philosophy. In this forum a lot of recipes pass by without mentioning the yeast strain. In Dutch or Belgian forums the yeast and fermentation regime is always regarded as a part of the recipe, just as important as malt, hops etc.
I don't think that's only the case for Belgian beers. I recently made 2 different worts which I had split to ferment with 2 very "clean" yeasts (Wyeast 1007 and Safale US-05). The differences in both cases were huge!

We brewers only make wort, the yeast makes beer.