Saison Ete

JeffPhD2005 · 06-04-2008, 10:02 PM

Hello All,
In the recent Zymurgy on Saison I went ahead and brewed the AG Saison Ete. All went well and I pitched a rocking 700 ml of yeast from White Labs Saison and it did the Wild Thang for almost a week (OMG what a beautiful thing!) and then it just dropped way off on activity. Now I know this brew is known for its high attenuation so I racked it to secondary (hummm maybe too early) and the hydrometer was at 1.015 so I figured I can get it down further in secondary. It has been sitting in secondary for a week with very little visible activity (temp is up there at 76 to get those lil esters I love so much about Saison). Farmhouse Ales says to be patient but I am wondering...should I re-pitch? Has anyone brewed any of the Saison's listed in the Zymurgy?
Also, I'll bottle this Saison to get all the benefits of bottle conditioning and wanted to ask if I should re-pitch yeast and priming sugar and then bottle or just bottle with priming sugar and not re-pitch? Any suggestions?

Thanks to all.

Jeff

Kai · 06-04-2008, 10:49 PM

I'm not familiar with the recipe; what temperature did you mash at? What proportion of your fermentables were straight sugar?

Listen to the Jamil Show on Saison. He talks for quite a while about that White Labs Saison I 565 strain. Chris White of White Labs even makes an appearance. He says he has tons and tons of trouble getting it dry enough, and often has to repitch.

Nonetheless, rouse the yeast and raise the temperature as hot as you can get it (90˚ would not be excessive) and see if it helps. I'd generally advise against racking to secondary before you're at your desired FG.

JeffPhD2005 · 06-05-2008, 05:21 AM

Thanks Kai,
The recipe is in the current Zymurgy (page 38), they describe it as a "classic Saison" and the "quaff of the farmhands" the color is spot on and aroma is typical Saaz. Other than the not so low FG, everything went pretty well.
As for the mash in temps, I mashed in at 120 F for 20 minutes (protein rest) and then increased the temp to 150 for an hour. Sugar fermentables was a pound of Belgian candi (7.3%). OG was a bit lower than I expected to (expected was 1.069) at 1.057 (71% efficiency) but I am still working in a new mash tun and thermometer set up.

I racked to secondary as the fermentation activity dropped from being very vigorous to nothing after 6 days. Thinking the yeast worked very clean, I racked to secondary but realized it may have more to ferment albeit a lot slower rate. In Farmhouse Ales Phil Markowski does talk about patience and even re-pitching. I've upped the temps to the high 70's and may even go higher and / or re-pitch as you recommend if the gravity doesn't move.

Thanks for the heads up on the Jamil Show as White Labs 565 was the strain I used. I'll re-check the gravity in a few days and re-evaluate.
Any other suggestions are appreciated.

Jeff

z987k · 06-05-2008, 09:55 AM

Next time leave it in the primary until you have reached either your FG or a point or two above it. Regardless of how long that takes. Also, I think that yeast needs a lot higher temp than 76 to finish off.