Saison Brewday Mistake

DrinksWellWithOthers · 08-15-2009, 12:01 AM

So I just finished brewing up an AG saison. I took a gravity reading and I'm 9 points short; I was supposed to hit 1.055 and I ended up at 1.046. What the hell? Then it dawns on me... I forgot to add the pound of corn sugar.

I already oxygenated and pitched my yeast (3724). Should I boil up the sugar now and add it? Or maybe wait a couple of days when I ramp up the temp from 68F? I never use corn sugar and this is my first saison so I'm kinda at a crossroads. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

SavageSteve · 08-15-2009, 12:23 AM

I think you'd be OK boiling up the sugar and adding it later in the fermentation, maybe right at the end when the yeast have chewed through all the maltose and are ready for an easy snack.

-Steve

DrinksWellWithOthers · 08-15-2009, 12:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SavageSteve

I think you'd be OK boiling up the sugar and adding it later in the fermentation, maybe right at the end when the yeast have chewed through all the maltose and are ready for an easy snack.

-Steve

Yeah I thought of "feeding" the yeast like you might do with a big beer that you want to attenuate well but didn't know if it would be necessary.

One thing I keep reading/hearing about this yeast is its reputation for dying out halfway through fermentation and kicking back up again. Maybe I should add the sugar once it picks back up again.

SavageSteve · 08-15-2009, 12:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrinksWellWithOthers

One thing I keep reading/hearing about this yeast is its reputation for dying out halfway through fermentation and kicking back up again. Maybe I should add the sugar once it picks back up again.

Yep. Mine stalled at 1.035, just like the Wyeast web site describes. I warmed it up to 85 deg. F. over several days, and it's been slowly fermenting since.

-Steve

**ChshreCat** · 08-15-2009, 01:07 AM

Feeding the sugar later can help keep a finicky yeast like some (but not at least one one

) of the saison strains from stalling out. I vote to save it until your ferment peaks.

jasonh · 08-15-2009, 01:22 AM

I missed my OG on my saison 6-7 weeks ago by about 6 points, and honestly it turned out amazing! Saison (by my understanding) is historically more of a low gravity lawnmower type beer anyways, though the more modern versions tend to be a bit bigger. I'm actually drinking one of mine right now and it's absolutely perfect for summer. I say jack up the temperature, shake her a little gently (if you seem to be stalling out) and let it ride. If you don't like the results, it's just another excuse to brew it again! In my experience, futzing around after the fact tends to do more harm than good.

DrinksWellWithOthers · 08-19-2009, 10:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChshreCat

Feeding the sugar later can help keep a finicky yeast like some (but not at least one one

) of the saison strains from stalling out. I vote to save it until your ferment peaks.

This is basically what I did. I came home from work today to find a significant decrease in fermentation activity. SG was at 1.020. I boiled up a pound of corn sugar, cooled it and tried to gently add it into the fermenter. Within 20 minutes the yeast were going gangbusters and the temp has already climbed a few degrees to 86F. Hopefully this activity keeps up and the yeast don't stall out on me.

DrinksWellWithOthers · 09-17-2009, 08:58 PM

So here we are a month later... Saison's been fermenting sssllloooowwwlly but surely. The gravity is down to 1.003 after temp adjustment but I still have plenty of yeast in suspension. I've roused the yeast numerous times and have kept the temperature around 80-85F so that seemed to get the job done. I'll take another reading next week and see if its changed. Not really sure how much lower it could possibly drop at this point.

MikeRLynch · 09-18-2009, 01:05 PM

Oh it could go all the way to 1.000, I've had a beer or two do that on me.

Btw, I've got a saison that's been in primary for two months, and like everyone else it stalled and has since been going veeeerrrry slowly. Any risk of off flavors (lysis) from keeping the beer on dead yeast that long at higher temps? I haven't taken a gravity yet, so I'm not even sure I'm done, but I'm getting weary of leaving it on the cake like that.