Belgian Golden Strong, May 15 2010

My neighbor, Dylan, is really into Belgian Ales and with a birthday coming up, it was decided that we will fill the taps and roll over the kegerator to his backyard for the event.  This past Wednesday, we met up at Toronado with some friends for some "research".  We focused on Belgian Golden Strong and Tripel as our topics of study.  Among other beers, I recall having a Westmalle Tripel which I feel is an outstanding Tripel/Golden Strong, Urthel Tripel, and a La Chouffe.  We also had a Dupont Saison for a sample of our next focused "research" session.  Here's the recipe for the first brew with another Tripel in the near future. 

Belgian Golden Strong, May 15 2010
5 Gallons, All Grain, Single Infusion Mash, 90 Minute Boil

11 lbs. Belgian Pilsner
1 lb. Red Wheat 
Single Infusion Mash 148°F

1 lb. Belgian Soft Candi Sugar (blonde)
1 lb. Dextrose

1 oz. Tettnanger for 60 min.
1 oz. Saaz for 20 min.
1 Whirlfloc tab 20 min.

White Labs WLP570 Belgian Golden Ale (vial to starter), thanks Kara!

OG: 1.080
FG: 1.026 (see below)
ABV: 7.2%

Kegged on June 30th.

Its been a while since I've experienced a stuck fermentation.  When racking to secondary after the krausen during primary had fallen, I took a gravity reading.  At 1.030, it was obvious that it wouldn't attenuate.  First, I wasn't expecting this high of an original gravity (was thinking it would hit around 1.070) and second, the weather cooled around here and I knew that a warmer temperature wasn't going to help WLP570 attenuate.  After racking to secondary, I attempted to rescue this brew with a vial of WLP001.  From 1.030 to 1.026, at least I was able to shave off 0.004 which in this range, helped a lot.  Stuck fermentations simply suck!  There's not a whole lot you can do about it after the fact.  Next time, I'll be sure to ramp up the starter earlier, possibly use a nutrient addition, and aerate longer with oxygen.