Tis The Saison

[Richard]

10 lbs 2-row
2lbs Vienna Malt
1 lb. Malted Wheat
1 lb. Munich Malt
1 lb. Cane Sugar
0.25 lb. Caramunich III

1.0oz Hallertauer Tradition 7% @ 60.
0.5oz Hallertauer Tradition 7% @ 15.
0.5oz Hallertauer Tradition 7% @ Flameout.

Wyeast 3711 "French Saison"

Mash 5Gal at 149F, Sparge 4.5Gal at 168F.

Ferment starting at 65F until visible signs have stopped, then leave at 75F for another week.


edit: OG was 1.070, FG is 1.010 - ~8% ABV. This yeast is a monster.

[Brian_S]

Ummmm.....don't suppose you'd bring some of that yeast to the next meeting?  I'd like to try my hand at one.

B

[Richard]

it's unlikely that it will arrive in time for me to brew this and make washed cultures, but I'll certainly do that when the time arrives.

[Richard]

Brewing today... finally got a day where I'm not booked out for 12 hours of development. Sweet.

[Dave Savoie]

hmmm no rice ?

[Richard]

none in the last few batches, no...

[Dave Savoie]

ha ha just razzing !!!

[Richard]

Yeah yeah...

See: http://nbcba.org/forum/index.php?topic=4723.0

(for about the 100th time )

[Richard]

See recipe for edit regarding temperature; I have changed from 80F to 65-75F after reading up on the yeast a little more. I want the yeast's complex characteristics, but I don't want this to taste like a barnyard wash basin.

It is the Belgian saison yeast (http://www.wyeastlab.com/rw_yeaststrain ... .cfm?ID=60) rather than the French, which likes (requires) the warmer temperatures (up to 35C).

[Richard]

Hmm ok... so monitoring of my brew-room puts it at between 18 and 16C depending on the time of day (I have a nifty little USB thermometer and a spare laptop to record the temperature over time with 1-minute intervals). The brew *looked* done insofar as the airlock was concerned, so I pulled the carboy out of there and sat it on the kitchen table for the diacetyl rest I usually do (just in case). Within a couple of hours the damn thing had woken right back up again.

I know gravity is the only way to really test "done-ness", but in my experience once the thing has stopped bubbling at all for three days it's finished primary without some kind of intervention (purists be damned). Since I buggered my hydrometer and am waiting on delivery of a refractometer, that was and is the only option I have.

Anyways; rambling aside - I can only assume that this yeast in fact really likes the slightly warmer temperatures in the kitchen (20C), and that it awoke again due to not being too damn cold. No other brew I've done has started bubbling away so vigorously so long (hours) after it was moved elsewhere.

Take away point: This yeast seems to like *slightly* warmer temperatures than you may normally use for ale yeasts, unless this is a fluke of circumstance.

[Richard]

Seems I'm not the only one to experience this temperature-reviving effect:
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/wyeast ... ost1492687

I took a gravity reading after 2 weeks of fermenting in the big cold water bucket... the hydrometer reading was 1.006... I pulled it out of the bucket and let it sit a room temp for a couple hours and fermentation kicked back up. I did drink the Hydro sample... it's gonna be good, boys, it's gonna be good.

How low can you go?

[Richard]

Just tried a gravity sample of this... damn tasty stuff. Very belgian flavours from the yeast - next time I think I'll try to dry it out even further with an extra lb of sugar in place of the munich and dropping the cara-munich entirely. Washing the yeast now so will have a few jars for the library and if anyone else wants to try it.

[sdixon]

I would definitely like to give it a try

[Richard]

I said "washing now" but I have to wait for about 2 gallons of water to cool down from boiling and I'm going out tonight... tis all sealed up so I'll leave it be until tomorrow - will have the washed yeast for the meeting next week for sure. By Monday if you'd like to pick it up before then

[sdixon]

Yes I read "washing now", I was just saying I would like to try it when ready. The yeast and the beer that is :-)