Saison help please

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L1truckie

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I brewed a Saison (first ever Saison) with an OG of 1053, it has been fermenting at 88-89F for 4 weeks to the day. I used Wyeast 3724. Right now it is at 1018 and has been for a few days and im shooting for 1008 or lower. I've been swirling the bucket in an attempt to rouse the yeast to no avail. I have a competition in 4 weeks. Do I,

A - continue to rouse, maybe aerate some and hope it crawls down to 1008 or so in two weeks and keg.

Or...

B - cut my losses at this point and throw some Notty in there to really dry it up. And if I do this, do I take it off the heat now and let it cool to room temp with the Notty? Heat plus Notty equals dead yeast? Or keep it warm?

Or...

C - any other brilliant ideas from you fine brewers??

Either way I want it kegged in two weeks max, so it will have two weeks to age. Also Notty is the only yeast I have to dry it out at this point (2 hrs from LHBS) besides some 05 laying around. Am I thinking right or am I jacked up? Thanks in advance for any input.:mug:
 
What was your recipe? Getting it down to 1.008 might be wishful thinking unless you had a lot of simple sugars in the recipe.
 
3724 should have no problem getting it down to 1.008 unless you have a lot of unfermentables. If it is a normal saison recipe,you might just have to leave it for a while longer. Sometimes 3724 can be slow to get the last few points.

A) will work but do not aerate at this point. Aerating will only oxidize the beer.Just keep the temp up, or even get it higher and it should work

If you want to nuke it, get some 3711,make a starter and pitch it at high krausen. 3711 will chow through anything. This is probably your best option at this point.
 
3724 is notoriously slow. I think you'll be able to get your FG but it will take longer than two weeks. I second the 3711 French Saison suggestion. That will drop it to 1.000 in no time. At your OG I wouldn't even worry about a starter. Let the pack swell and pitch it. Well worth the mileage to get it. Plus, by pitching 3711 you'll keep a consistent saison character in the beer as opposed to picking up some off flavors from a non traditional yeast.
 
what's your temp? raise it....

This. Seriously. I used 3724 for my first Saison and it stalled at 1030. I posted a WTF thread and was directed to the Wyeast site and a ton of threads here that all spell out the same issue. I thought I could treat this like I do all my other Belgian brews and ferment in the high 60s with a gradual ramp up to get it to finish. Not gonna happen. This yeast likes it HOT! Like 80s or 90s hot. FWIW I split my batch when it stalled and pitched Brett in half and cranked the temp on the other. Both finished nice and dry (1006-1004 I think) but I am MUCH happier with the Brett version.
 
What was your recipe?
I decided to do a quick extract, being my first Saison, dme, lme and steeped some 40

A) will work but do not aerate at this point. Aerating will only oxidize the beer.Just keep the temp up, or even get it higher and it should work.
Good point on oxidizing and can't get it any hotter....at 89-90 now


3724 is notoriously slow. I think you'll be able to get your FG but it will take longer than two weeks. I second the 3711 French Saison suggestion

I knew it was going to be slow from reading the forums and brewed it early, unfortunately it's for a comp and I'm getting short on time. Next time I brew one I'm just let it ride out for however long it takes....and I only have some Notty at this point...no 3711 sitting around. That thought crossed my mind.

what's your temp? raise it....

Been at 89-90 for weeks now.....that's as warm as I can get it.

This. Seriously. I used 3724 for my first Saison and it stalled at 1030. I posted a WTF thread and was directed to the Wyeast site and a ton of threads here that all spell out the same issue. I split my batch when it stalled and pitched Brett in half and cranked the temp on the other. Both finished nice and dry (1006-1004 I think) but I am MUCH happier with the Brett version.

I'm sure I read your thread :mug: I think I've read any thread with 3724 in it. Thanks for the input. Learned a ton about Saisons and 3724 reading the threads!


I obviously miscalculated my timing on brewing this and getting it ready for a comp, I figured after reading all the threads here I would have had plenty of time with 8 weeks. But hey, live and learn :) still looking forward to drinking it.

As far as pitching again, (say i pitch Notty) should I bring the temp back down or keep it up in the high 80s where it's been?
 
At this point I would just let it go. I think I cranked the temps too high too fast and got a LOT of fruity esters. Don't try to rush it and the competition will be there next year!
 
Mine didn't finish up till it was at like 90-93* for 3-4 days... have a whole thread about the experience. Getting it that hot was really a fluke in my set up but once it got there and I STOPPED swirling it decided to go nuts for a few days then stopped as soon as it started again... finished at ~1.006. Took exactly 2 weeks.

Got 50 bottles now at a week old, tastes freaking amazing. Feels so wrong but tastes so right ;-)
 
Yeah, you might have to figure out a way to get the temps up a few more degrees. I ended up with a light bulb in my ferm fridge for a couple of weeks.
 
Props for all the responses and insight...I will post soon about the outcome and my decision...I'm working a 24 hour today and will probably take a gravity reading tomorrow and decide.
 
The end result......

After rousting the yeast it dropped 6 points in 6 days to 1012 and stopped....wouldn't budge..I wanted it lower so I backed off the temp to 80, and pitched the Notty.... It creeped to 1008 after another couple of weeks.... I honestly don't think the Notty did a bit of good....and after recalculating my notes I apparently had a math error and my FG was to be 1012... Poor planning and performance on my part....lim better than that....I kegged it today and all seemed well, Hydro sample tasted good, not that that is an indicator though..

Thanks again for insight..
 
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