Wyeast 3724 thoughts

I'm brewing a saison with 3724 and I had some interesting thoughts about this yeast.

3724 is a yeast that comes from old barn style brewing days. This would mean that the temperatures weren't regulated but possibly a small fluctuation of warmth through out the day and night. I've read about people ramping temperatures use controllers and heating elements. But I think this is a safe yeast in that it can tolerate a pretty wide range of temperatures without much danger. And a yeast that likes the movement in temperatures.

I've had it going for a little over a day now sitting in common room temperature instead of using a controller like I normally would for any brew. And it is churning along at a great rate so far. My home(NYC) has temperatures that are currently between 75-85 based on the weather. I'll follow up in a week or two but that's just my two cents as of now.

Also a little video of the airlock:
Gurgggglllee

Hey, fauxtoe, thanks for posting this. I'll be brewing a saison in about 2 weeks, and I was considering the same idea. I have a closet upstairs that probably swings from 70-82 or so and I was thinking of pitching at around 68 and then, once fermentation kicks off, putting it in that closet just to see what happens when--as you pointed out would have been done in the farmhouses--the temp controller is Nature.

I look forward to reading your results and will post mine as well. I'm going w/ 3711, FWIW.

Cheers!

Dupont isn't necessarily one of the original "farmhouse" strains. Its actually part of the saison revival and because of the high abv is considered a "super saison" by some. Most of the low gravity fieldhand saisons have been lost to history. In addition, I think that just because something was done historically, doesn't mean it's the best way to do it. Yeast generally don't like big swings in temperature.

That said, I am by no means an authority. Someone might be able to tell you that temp swings will stress out this yeast in favorable ways and result in an interesting profile. I just tend to err on the side of yeast health.

Fauxtoe - Have you read the threads on here about this yeast?

Here's just one...

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/wyeast-3724-belgian-saison-they-were-right-131071/

Anyway, good luck! Let us know how it goes.

Piratwolf - You should be fine doing this with 3711 it seems to be a lot more tolerant to temperature variances/fluctuations.

I made a Saison using one vial of the Saison blend and one smack pac of 3724 built up a 1200ml on the stir plate. Started of at 70f and over the 5 days ramp it up to 90 with temp control. I think the biggest thing with this yeast is not to let the temp swing back down and then up again. A steady rise in temp until 90 should give what you want we will see. Mine is on the tail end of fermentation so I cant wait to try it.

Yep, I was just working with a random theory. I'll know how it worked better in about 7 days, or I suppose 3 weeks.

@ChessRockwell--thanks for the vote of confidence. I've only used it once so it's reassuring to hear from someone better versed.

I've never used the yeast, but have read many reports that if the temperature drops too much, the yeast can drop out and not re-start. You might want to wrap that puppy up in a blanket to reduce temperature swings.

This yeast will stick if you are not careful. Wyeast even says so in their description.

This strain is notorious for a rapid and vigorous start to fermentation, only to stick around 1.035 S.G. Fermentation will finish, given time and warm temperatures. Warm fermentation temperatures at least 90°F (32°C) or the use of a secondary strain can accelerate attenuation.

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That is pretty much how it went for me. Started out strong only to stall out and stick until I raised the temp. I have since started using WLP 566 and like it better.

I use 3724 and 3726 on a regular basis and have good results keeping it going in the low - mid 90's for the first week. I'll then ramp down to room temp (70*) for two more weeks and keg.

Piratwolf said:

@ChessRockwell--thanks for the vote of confidence. I've only used it once so it's reassuring to hear from someone better versed.

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Oh I'm no expert! I just do a LOT of research on here and elsewhere about yeast strains before I try them out... There were quite a few threads on here about saison strains, including the 3711 one which is like 48 pages (yeah i read the whole thing, whew!). General consensus seems to be the 3711 has less "character" than the dupont strain but is much more tolerant to temp fluctuations, seems to work fine fermented hot or on the cool side, and will pretty much chew through anything. Overall a lot more user friendly. I'm actually still waiting for my first batch with it to finish up, it's been 2 weeks and I haven't taken a gravity reading yet, but it's still a bubblin', so we'll see. How did your first try with it work out, and what temp did you ferment at?

3711 you don't ferment as warm. The 3724 needs to get warm and I get a nice peppery flavor from it while 3711 I start at 68 and let it free rise to mid 70's but I don't like it if it gets too warm. I found 3711 to be more aromatic with a fruity nose and has a better mouth feel for a beer that I get to finish at <1.008. The flavors are different but I wouldn't say 3724 taste better you just need to experiment and find how to use each yeast to get what your looking for. I just prefer 3711 for the thicker mouth feel on a otherwise thin beer because of the glycerol production.

Just wanted to point out that my experiment failed since the weather took a very cool drop recently and it's now being slowly ramped with a heating blanket

I did give it a slight swirling since the fermentation seemed stalled, atleast visibly, and now with that and some heat around 80* it is bubbling again about once every 5-10 seconds. Will ramp to 90 in the next week.