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High OG after 14 days in primary

bensonowitz

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Looking for some possible answers!

Brewed 5 gal batch Belgian blond with biab.  Did a three step rest on the mash.  Added hot water to raise temps on the rest which ultimately created a very thin mash. 

OG after boil was 1.051.  15 days in primary and has been reading 1.029 for the last 4 days.

Yeast is WL500 Trappist.  Vial was way past best before date.  Made 1000 ml starter which started slow but took off great.  Pitched starter at 70 degrees while it was at high krausen.  Wort was 69 degrees.

Batch took off heavy for 2 days with blow off.  slowed down over next 4 with airlock.

Following a version of trappist recipe that called for dropping primary temp after 7 days to 41 and holding for a week and then bring back up to mid 60's before bottling. 

I did drop to 44 for 2 days but couldn't hold it that low so slowly raised it up to 68 over 2 days.

Since there has been no change in gravity for 4 days I feel the yeast are burnt out and not in dormancy.  Thinking also my mash method and different rests may have created some unfermentables.

Looking for advice on if I should try anything else before bottling.

thanks
 
Assuming your three step mash consisted of protein, Beta amylase, and Alpha amylase, you should have a high efficiency and a reasonably fermentable beer. Your final gravity should be below 1.010 - based on my very limited experience with Belgian yeast.

Your starter sounds good. For an old vial, I might have stepped it up at least once - except that I don't like making starters and almost always used dry yeast.

I've read that some Belgian yeasts have a tendency to stall. It may help to swirl the fermenter gently to get the yeast back up into contact with the beer. If all else fails, you could try pitching another starter.

Are you using a hydrometer or a refractometer to check your specific gravity? If you're using a refractometer, you must adjust readings taken after fermentation begins because alcohol has a different refractive index than a sugar-water solution (wort). Good news: Beersmith includes a refractometer-correction tool: click on "Tools", "Refractometer"; select "Fermenting Wort Gravity", enter your current refractometer reading and the original gravity. Using the refractometer tool, a reading of 1.029 (7.5 Brix) corrects to 1.017. Sounds high to me but may be ok for a Belgian blond.

 
Oddly enough, I did use a refractometer and for the first time! 

I just got it and this was the first reading after calibration with distilled water.  It is so much quicker than the hydrometer but I had no idea there was an adjustment based on the viscosity of the alcohol.  Makes total sense!

.017 makes me feel a lot better and does sit on the very high end of BJCP ranges for the style but still a bit high as you noted.

Beer has a great flavor but is a bit sweet as you might expect.

If I can't get it to go lower, do you see any issues with potential bottle bombs at the current gravity?
 
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