Wyeast 3711 French Saison

So the last 10 gallons brew from Friday 9-4-09 is down from 1.058 to 1.004 and I soured 5 gallons with lacto. The lacto batch is down to 1.002!! That is 7 days from brew kettle to terminal gravity.

Not bad.

I added 9oz of sugar and mashed in the 147 range for 90 min and fermented at 72-74. 80% pils and 20% wheat, 20 IBU with Styrian Goldings and Saaz for the finish.

This is the second 10 gallon batch with the 3711. This is quickly becoming my favorite yeast.

Last week 5 gallons were bottled with 3 different bretts and a neutral yeast. Hopefully in a month or two I can do a side by side and see what is what.

Now go brew some WY3711 beer!!!
BW

This is quickly becoming my favorite yeast.

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Clearly! Update us on the sour'd batch, sour works well in the style!

EvilGnome6 said:

1.048 to 1.004 in one week. Holy crap!

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Another week has gone by so I took another gravity reading. It's now down to 1.002. I tasted a little bit and I think this one is gonna be great!

I'll give it one more week in the primary and if it holds steady, I'll crash cool for a week and bottle it. I can't wait.

EvilGnome6,

I kegged mine after 7 days primary and 3 days cold.

Drinking that one right now and this week it is better than last! Fruity and spicy from the yeast. Smooth and refreshing at 6.8%!! I wanted less ABV, but for now I have to suffer!!!! :cross:

Really the best Belgian beer!! I do love the WLP 530 and this is a great one to have side-by-side with any 530 beer.

Seriously, order the yeast, brew it and love it!!

BW

Mine has been in the primary now for over a month. Fruit flies are gone so I can bottle now... if I can just find the time. I worked a 16 hour shift yesterday!

Brewed up a Belgian Abbey with the 3711 on Sunday. Starter smelled fantastic!! I can't wait for this beer to be ready. Added 12 oz of sugar to the primary last night. It's only fermenting at 78-80, but it's been churning away none-stop since 4 hours after pitch.

see my sig for details, this is served from Tap-A-Draft bottled without additional co2 being added. I poured almost the full glass (European pint) and there was no head and by end of the glass I could see that I will have to add co2 cartridge to TAD soon.

Very sweet smell, zesty and a bit of peppery flavor. I like to add orange juice (not orange slice) to my Blue Moons / Wits and while I am out of OJ I did put 2 slices of lemon into this bad boy. I like emphasizing citrus flavor in Belgians beers, this makes them very refreshing and easy to drink. Addition of the lemon created a citrus explosion when you smell the beer. I also detected another smell but couldnt tell what it was since I am still a newb to classifying all different components of the beer taste. Color and clarity was significantly lighter and clearer when compared to Belgian Wit strain. Due to it being in bottle for only 1.5 week its not as carbonated as older beer yet I sense this is more authentic taste of it anyways. I will add a co2 cartridge to it after next glass

My sister is stopping by in an hour or so and I asked her to get some OJ. I will try it with OJ to see how I like it compared to my Belgian Wit yeast that has been in rotation for a few rounds now. I sense that 3711 is much smoother and I am proud to have it in my rotation now. I have 2 batches of Wit + 1 batch of Saison going on now. I definitely need to get a few kits of NB's Limited Edition Petite Saison before they stop selling it. Kit vs buying just the ingredients separately later is always cheaper.

Thank you NB for great kit and thank you to Wyeast for this special yeast.

ChshreCat said:

Mine has been in the primary now for over a month. Fruit flies are gone so I can bottle now... if I can just find the time. I worked a 16 hour shift yesterday!

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OT baby

I kept mine for around a month also, read above.

I added like a shot of OJ and poured another glass of carbonated beer (put 1 co2 cartridge 10 mins prior).

Smell and taste are so much more citrus. Obviously because of OJ added its a lot more cloudy than au naturel. I think the taste that I couldnt fully tell before is grapefruit as I taste it now with the addition of tingly grapefruit taste that stays with you as aftertaste and you can feel it for a while. As I am drinking more I am digging the grapefruit taste which is illustrated with OJ a lot more than with lemon. As the beer warmed up the smell intensified and became sharper.

EvilGnome6 said:

Another week has gone by so I took another gravity reading. It's now down to 1.002. I tasted a little bit and I think this one is gonna be great!

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It kept going for me too. After one week it was down to 1.004 and looked like was done. It's now been in the keg at room temp for a few weeks so I pulled a sample today, to my suprise it was slightly carbonated so I poured some on the refractometer...1.000!

Got home today from work and looking forward to racking the 80/20 pils/wheat!!

After 6 weeks in primary, I finally got around to racking to secondary and taking a hydro sample. It's at 1.001! holy moly I like this yeast.

EvilGnome6 said:

Another week has gone by so I took another gravity reading. It's now down to 1.002. I tasted a little bit and I think this one is gonna be great!

I'll give it one more week in the primary and if it holds steady, I'll crash cool for a week and bottle it. I can't wait.

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Leveled off at 1.002. I racked to secondary so I could wash the yeast from the primary and will let the batch chill a bit at 60F for week. I'm looking forward to bottling this batch up next Sunday!

After a week in the primary it's down to 1.004. Four days ago it was 1.013. It's still delicious but has a bit of an alcohol warmth to it now. I would have been happy transfering and crashing it around 1.008, but was out of town during those four days. I'd like to rack it off now but need to keep the yeast happy until Sunday for my BGSA.

Thinking of taking a whack at a Rabbid Rabbit clone with this. All I have is the list of spices off of Three Floyd's website and the alcohol content. The website claims they use three different yeasts. Any other suggestions on a good recipe are welcome.

When I racked mine over, it smelled like my apfelwein when I racked it over. Smell and taste of the sample were very fruity with a bit of pepper flavor underneath. Very tasty.

After 3 weeks in primary fermentation and 1 week in a bottle, and a TON of newbie mistakes that you can find in the beginners forum.

Here is mine, the recipe was Northern Brewer Saison. It smells like a saison and taste almost like a blonde.



Will let it sit in bottles for another 2 weeks.

add some OJ to it! it must be pretty flat with only 1 week.

Pivzavod said:

add some OJ to it! it must be pretty flat with only 1 week.

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au contraire, was very carbed ! i was surprised...you can tell from the little CO2 bubbles..

Tonedef131 said:

It kept going for me too. After one week it was down to 1.004 and looked like was done. It's now been in the keg at room temp for a few weeks so I pulled a sample today, to my suprise it was slightly carbonated so I poured some on the refractometer...1.000!

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Mine ended up down there too. 1.01 when I threw it in the keg, it may have gone lower if it hadn't been thrown in the fridge.

Still, getting 5.5+% from a 1.045 OG was a little unexpected.

Synovia said:

Mine ended up down there too. 1.01 when I threw it in the keg, it may have gone lower if it hadn't been thrown in the fridge.

Still, getting 5.5+% from a 1.045 OG was a little unexpected.

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Holy crap. I didn't think about the ABV... I just calculated mine. 1.069 down to 1.001... That comes out to exactly abv!

Mine started at 1.056 and went so low it is 7% ABV!!!

Tomorrow I am brewing one at 1.045, mash at 154 and no sugar!!

I am hoping for a nice 5% beer. Loving this yeast!!!

ChshreCat said:

Holy crap. I didn't think about the ABV... I just calculated mine. 1.069 down to 1.001... That comes out to exactly abv!

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damn, 1001??

Cool!

philrose said:

damn, 1001??

Cool!

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If this yeast were a woman, I'd so want to dry hump it.

I thought it's a liquid yeast.

ChshreCat said:

If this yeast were a woman, I'd so want to dry hump it.

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It would be like humping a cup of warm water...

Anywho, I'm starting to formulate a gruit recipe and I'm thinking this might be a fine strain to use. Any thoughts on how this would work for an unusual Yule Ale?

I like this yeast a lot. Super quick and care free.

IMHO, for what it's worth, it's not a substitute for the Belgian Saison yeast. It doesn't result in the same level of complex bold apple/pinnapple fruit flavors. Just think it depends on what kind of beer you're going for. YMMV

I washed this yeast after I was done fermenting a traditional saison with it. It's waiting patiently for the next batch. Thinking of doing something bigger with it!

Brian from Wyeast said that Brasserie Thieriex supposedly got this strain from Brasserie Dupont. Also it is now a year-round strain!

I used a little of the 3711 last month to dry out a stalled Quad. It took it down to 1.010 in days, while the WL530 was working very slow. It is one of my best Quads so far!!

Using 3711 to brew this once everything arrives. Its a take on Jamil's Saison recipe.

6lbs Pilsner LME
3.15lbs Wheat LME
1lb Cane Sugar

2oz Caramunich III

2oz Hallertau (60)
1oz Hallertau (0)

Expected SG is about 1.070-1.073.

The cane sugar is late boil addition correct? Also, will a 2 liter starter be sufficient for this?

sugar can go in any time during the boil, it doesn't make a difference

sonetlumiere85 said:

sugar can go in any time during the boil, it doesn't make a difference

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Not true. You can put it in at any time, but you should account for the change in gravity when planning your hop additions, as gravity affects the IBUs drawn from hops.

On mine, I added the sugar to the primary. Waited until the ferment was JUST starting to die down then boiled the sugar in a little water, cooled and poured it in. That way, the yeast work through the maltose before getting the simpler sugar to chew on.

mixmasterob said:

Expected SG is about 1.070-1.073.

The cane sugar is late boil addition correct? Also, will a 2 liter starter be sufficient for this?

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Wyeast 3711 is so aggressive I think you'd be fine with a 1 liter starter if you add the sugar to the primary 3-7 days after fermentation starts.

if you add the sugar to the primary 3-7 days after fermentation starts.

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It might be done in 7 days!!

B-Dub said:

It might be done in 7 hours!!

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There. I fixed that for you.

That is more like it!! I love that stuff!

I am very happy it is going to be part of the full time line up.

BW

I do not have a scale. What is the best way to measure out my DME for a 1 liter starter? I guess I need about 3 ounces DME per liter water. Also, can I use corn sugar in place of cane sugar as my extra sugar addition?

3/4 of a cup is the recommended amount for 750mL of water (in a 1L flask)

maskednegator said:

Not true. You can put it in at any time, but you should account for the change in gravity when planning your hop additions, as gravity affects the IBUs drawn from hops.

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Maybe so, but unless you're hopping with something above 6%AA, it won't result in a significant enough IBU difference to be discernible. Saisons traditionally use low AA hops, so personally, I'd say it's pretty safe to add sugar at any time. If in doubt, 10-5 minutes is plenty of time, of course.

How long is too long to leave beer on this yeast in the primary? I was under the impression that 3 weeks is usually the way to go but during a local brewers meeting I was told otherwise. I do not plan on using a secondary.