Ideal/Authentic Fermentation Temp for Wyeast 3725 Biere de Garde

Last night, I finally brewed a biere de garde I was planning for a long time. Did it as close to the traditional way as possible, using "Farmhouse Ales" as a guideline. Used 6 row barley, grain adjuncts and chaptelizing, as well as homegrown Brewer's Gold and Strisselspalt. I will then follow the primary fermentation with an extended garding period in my oak cask. The only thing I haven't been sure about is how to go about the fermentation.

And now it's in the carboy as of last night! Right now it's at about 56 degrees, and I need to figure out where I'm going to step it up to and hold it. Wyeast 3725 Biere de Garde yeast has a temp range of 70-84 degrees, though I don't see any examples in the book fermenting that high. The typical ale range I'm seeing is from 64 to 68 and one at 72. I've been debating going 66 or 68 but am unsure which temperature will be the best balance of yeast performance while yielding authentic flavor. It seems strange to me that a biere de garde yeast would have temperature range so close to a saison. In any case, would anyone care to weigh in on this?

How did this come out? I plan on brewing one tomorrow with the 3725. Im gonna ferment on the real cool side with this yeast, 68 because I dont want a lot of the esters, then im gonna brew a Fantome clone right after and get it as warm as possible and unleash all those yeast flavors.

jdawgh76 said:

How did this come out? I plan on brewing one tomorrow with the 3725. Im gonna ferment on the real cool side with this yeast, 68 because I dont want a lot of the esters, then im gonna brew a Fantome clone right after and get it as warm as possible and unleash all those yeast flavors.

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It turned out great. I fermented it at 68 and it certainly tastes like a biere de garde. Complex, with a semi-sweet finish, clean and minimal esters (so far). I've just transferred it to my white oak barrel for extended garding. If anyone's curious, I'll update on how that pans out.

EinGutesBier said:

It turned out great. I fermented it at 68 and it certainly tastes like a biere de garde. Complex, with a semi-sweet finish, clean and minimal esters (so far). I've just transferred it to my white oak barrel for extended garding. If anyone's curious, I'll update on how that pans out.

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Keep us posted. I'm brewing a low OG ale this weekend with 3725 and then using the yeast cake for a higher gravity BdG according to the guidelines in Farmhouse Ales. I think I'm going to aim for 70+ degrees F with both and see what I get.

NochEineMassBitte said:

Keep us posted. I'm brewing a low OG ale this weekend with 3725 and then using the yeast cake for a higher gravity BdG according to the guidelines in Farmhouse Ales. I think I'm going to aim for 70+ degrees F with both and see what I get.

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That sounds like a good gameplan. I would actually be curious as to how the yeast behaves at a higher temperature - I think that a higher temperature may help improve the flavor profile, though that may change with the wort composition. As far as my experience goes, the 5 days of oaking came through a bit too aggressively, so a more delicate approach would be suggested. My last observation is that for whatever reason, the 3725 simply does not flocculate very well at all. I've had it in my 35 degree kegerator for over a month and a half and I still pull yeast off with the first pour. Unfortunately, secondary in the wooden barrel did little to minimize the presence of the yeast.

So, I have an update on this topic. As planned, I made an OG session beer with Wyeast 3725 and then dumped the resulting yeast cake into a higher gravity ale based on the craft brewery (lots of special malts) Biere de Garde recipe in "Farmhouse Ales." I fermented the first one at around 70 and the second one went up to around 80.

I just bottled the warm fermented beer over the weekend, and the pre-carbonation sample tastes fantastic. I was expecting lots of esters due to the warm fermentation, but it was remarkably clean. Cleaner, in fact, than the lower OG original, which had kind of a sulfur taste to it that I didn't much care for. It's only two data points, and granted, it's two different wort compositions, but based on this little trial, I will warm ferment with 3725 next time I use it.

Regarding flocculation, the original batch didn't floc well at all, but the second generation cleared up nicely after two months in the fermenter (no cold crashing or anything).

Regarding the original question posed, Wyeast 3725 is the primary yeast used by Brasserie Fantome brewery in Soy, Belgium (which is kind of funny because Fantome brews saisons). According to Farmhouse Ales (pg. 145) Fantome ferments their Saison d'Erezee Printemps @ 82 F for primary fermentation. Then they condition or garde it for 6 days @ 37 F.