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TimmyR

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Split batch of American Saison fermenting away. WLP670 (American Farmhouse) and WLP566 (Saison II) in the other. Both sitting tight at 73-75F 14 hours after pitch.

ee3157b8.jpg


Loose lids on top for first 9-hours then I switched to cheesecloth since I had krausen. Hoping to keep my Saison yeast happy.
 
My dogs live upstairs. My basement is a dog-free zone and it'll only be wide open for about 2-days. It's cool to watch. The Brewing TV guys did an open ferment some time ago and I've always thought it'd be fun to try. I am a little edgy since the air is not still in that room, but I think it'll do well.
 
Nice! I've wanted to try that, but am also not brave enough :) Gonna have to do it some day. Hope it works out for you!
 
Split batch of American Saison fermenting away. WLP670 (American Farmhouse) and WLP566 (Saison II) in the other. Both sitting tight at 73-75F 14 hours after pitch.

ee3157b8.jpg


Loose lids on top for first 9-hours then I switched to cheesecloth since I had krausen. Hoping to keep my Saison yeast happy.

Awesome! I've been seriously considering a Saison as my next brew... the temps in my fermenting room are just about right.

Any chance you could post your recipe and/or process?
 
Absolutely, I'll post it all....can anyone tell me the easiest way to export a BeerSmith Recipe to xml? BeerTools has a cool button for it. I'll post the recipe, what I did and ho it turns out. I am planning to cover them loosely tomorrow with their lids.
 
Absolutely, I'll post it all....can anyone tell me the easiest way to export a BeerSmith Recipe to xml? BeerTools has a cool button for it. I'll post the recipe, what I did and ho it turns out. I am planning to cover them loosely tomorrow with their lids.

Can't help with BeerSmith, sorry... but I'm really looking forward to seeing what you've done.
 
Absolutely, I'll post it all....can anyone tell me the easiest way to export a BeerSmith Recipe to xml? BeerTools has a cool button for it. I'll post the recipe, what I did and ho it turns out. I am planning to cover them loosely tomorrow with their lids.

In "My Recipes" view, select the recipe, then go to File - Export Selected, and set the "Save as type" list box to BeerXML.

Cheers!
 
I admire your bravery for open fermenting like that. Thanks for sharing and looking forward to how it turns out.

It's only totally open for a day. Hopefully I won't be dumping it. In any case, I get something out of every batch. The good news is all my kegs are full right now and I have beer and cider waiting to go on tap.....
 
I'm also looking forward to seeing the difference in the yeast. I have yet to do a Saison yet and my LHBS only carries White Labs so no 3711 for me. Looks great.
 
Today's update. American Farmhouse Blend is running a little warmer than Saison II. It's also really cool to watch as it bubbles and fizzes.

WLP 670
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WLP566
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Lids
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Bathroom is seldom used in the basement and cleaners just cleaned there Thursday. Fermenters will be moved out today to my brew room which runs a few degrees warmer. Since I've pitched I do not think anyone has used my makeshift fermentation room for its original purpose. My typical cold box is curently busy carbonating kegs at 40F. I am out of temp-controlled space.

Now that you say that...I may have to move them. So far it's been a nearly perfect place to get fermentation started.
 
Bathroom is seldom used in the basement and cleaners just cleaned there Thursday. Fermenters will be moved out today to my brew room which runs a few degrees warmer. Since I've pitched I do not think anyone has used my makeshift fermentation room for its original purpose. My typical cold box is curently busy carbonating kegs at 40F. I am out of temp-controlled space.

Now that you say that...I may have to move them. So far it's been a nearly perfect place to get fermentation started.

Yea, I do some serious juggling myself since I serve from kegs and ferment in the same chest freezer - total pain in the ass. I need to get another chest freezer or kegerator. This hobby is such a money pit.
 
Yea, I do some serious juggling myself since I serve from kegs and ferment in the same chest freezer - total pain in the ass. I need to get another chest freezer or kegerator. This hobby is such a money pit.

I want to put a window unit through my wall into the small, unfinished section of my basement and set it to 55. Then I could probably ferment and store there all the time. My chest freezer was free and is usually empty, but I've been brewing more and need kegs to be ready for a family reunion next week.

This is the first time in forever that I have fermented with minimal to no temp control. I"ve tried it with WLP530 on a Belgian Pale and a Tripel...basement was holding 68'ish then. Now its around 73F in my basement so I figured Saison might work. So far so good.
 
Yea, I do some serious juggling myself since I serve from kegs and ferment in the same chest freezer - total pain in the ass. I need to get another chest freezer or kegerator. This hobby is such a money pit.

It is indeed. I just stuffed an a/c unit thru the wall of a closet in my garage. My "fermentation room" is holding a nice 68-71 throughout the day. The brews are holding a nice even 70˚.
 
I've been waiting for early Fall to try my first open ferment with a Nut Brown. Let me know how the flavors in your beer turn out!
 
I will post pix and my best assesment of the beers. They are under cover now with loose lids and siting in my 75F storage room. Next is adding heat wraps tomorrow and then raising the temps 3 degrees F per day until 85F. I go on vacation next week so if they are not finished out, they will enjoy 85 for the better part of 2+ weeks. The American Farmhouse is still really cool to watch. No krausen (like the Saison II) just fizing and bubbles....and darker brown.....really kind of evil looking.
 
Still at 75 now. Added heat and raised to 77. Secured lids but left hole loosely covered. When I put air locks in, the lids slightly bulged out and I did not think a sudden change in head pressure was best. The airlocks were bubbling like crazy. WLP566 still has thick creamy krausen. Today marks 3 days after pitch.
 
I want to put a window unit through my wall into the small, unfinished section of my basement and set it to 55. Then I could probably ferment and store there all the time. My chest freezer was free and is usually empty, but I've been brewing more and need kegs to be ready for a family reunion next week.

This is the first time in forever that I have fermented with minimal to no temp control. I"ve tried it with WLP530 on a Belgian Pale and a Tripel...basement was holding 68'ish then. Now its around 73F in my basement so I figured Saison might work. So far so good.

My chest freezer was busy with lagers, so I made a 10g saison last week and just left them on the back patio (covered). They are fermenting away at about 85F.
 
Temp bumped to 83F today (1 deg F per day since I started)

Saison II 1.004, American Farmhouse 1.002...both are delicious. I am hooked on both strains. I see an American-hopped Tripel in my future with Saison II.


C'est Bon!
 
for all who are worried about open fermentation, i do this with all my brews (covered with a cloth to keep out bugs and debris), and only secondary after krausen has fallen back completely (3to8 days) never had an issue (30+ batches). open fermentation is totally normal in my house, as it was when homebrewing was big in here in England thirty odd years ago...
watching the krausen turn into a martian meringue landscape is awesome in an open bucket too.
 
matteroftaste said:
for all who are worried about open fermentation, i do this with all my brews (covered with a cloth to keep out bugs and debris), and only secondary after krausen has fallen back completely (3to8 days) never had an issue (30+ batches). open fermentation is totally normal in my house, as it was when homebrewing was big in here in England thirty odd years ago...
watching the krausen turn into a martian meringue landscape is awesome in an open bucket too.

Finally some support! I love watching the krausen. I'm low on buckets so my next batch will be in a better bottle. So far my Saison is delicious.
 
Kegged after 6-days of dry-hopping. Both are great. I bought another bucket and plan to ferment a Hefeweizen the same way next week.
 

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