Desperate for help with a High Gravity Saison !

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kjung

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I have done a couple of threads on this before, but I am almost to the point of desperation now.
About a month ago, I brewed my very first high gravity beer, a Saison. After three weeks in the primary, the gravity had stalled to 1.050, after starting at 1.130. The target F.G. is around 1.016. After receiving some bad info, i tried warming up the primary, and may have damaged the original yeast.
I contacted White Labs, and the suggested either transferring everything to another primary, to rouse the yeast, or adding another yeast.
Well, an already long story short, I have done both in the last few days, and still am nowhere near the target final gravity, having dropped MAYBE .002.

Should I just let it sit for a few more days, and then rack it to the secondary, call it a loss,??? ... I have tasted it, and it is good, but kind of thick and syrupy.
 
When you repitched, did you make starter? I don't think warming up the fermenter would have damaged the yeast, saisons can ferment quite warm. What is the recipe? Your OG is quite high, do you have a lot of unfermentables in there?
 
When you repitched, did you make starter? I don't think warming up the fermenter would have damaged the yeast, saisons can ferment quite warm. What is the recipe? Your OG is quite high, do you have a lot of unfermentables in there?

I used a starter I made a couple of days before I pitched it. The recipe had 13.5 lbs. of DME, along with a couple of lbs. of grain, so there is PLENTY of fermentables in there.
 
I should probably also add, before anybody asks, that my original yeast was White Labs Saison 565, and the second yeast was their California Ale 001
 
well, that should have attenuated more. 70-75 is the perfect temp for that strain. You are over 10% ABV right now though, and I do not know the tolerance off the top of my head for that strain.
 
well, that should have attenuated more. 70-75 is the perfect temp for that strain. You are over 10% ABV right now though, and I do not know the tolerance off the top of my head for that strain.


That is what I am worried about. I had it sitting at 85-90 for a good week with the original yeast. It was at around 70 after that, though, including after I pitched the second yeast. That is why I can't understand not getting any fermentation now !
 
Yea I think your alcohol maybe a little high for either of the yeasts you pitched. you could use a champaign yeast but that might dry it out too much, maybe a different belgian yeast specifically for beers around 15% alcohol. in any case I would expect the fermentation to take a lot longer than a normal beer and when its done it will need to age for a long time I think.
 
Yea I think your alcohol maybe a little high for either of the yeasts you pitched. you could use a champaign yeast but that might dry it out too much, maybe a different belgian yeast specifically for beers around 15% alcohol. in any case I would expect the fermentation to take a lot longer than a normal beer and when its done it will need to age for a long time I think.

I am anticipating a long aging time. I don't expect to bottle it before the beginnig of October, at the earliest.
I really don't want to pitch a THIRD yeast. I'm afraid of what that might do to the final taste.
 
I am about 80% sure you have just reached the tolerance for that strain. What did you pitch the 2nd time?
 
I know it is too late now, but IMHO, based on Jamil's advice, at least 20% of the fermentables in any saison, especially a high gravity one, should be an easily completely-fermented, simple sugar like corn sugar or cane sugar, so that the beer will end up dry, as the style is supposed to be. I only did a couple extract beers, and no matter what always had problems getting to target FG, I think that extract is inherently harder to ferment out, that coupled with WLP565 which if you search, is a very poorly attenuating strain...you are sort of between a rock and a sweet beer. My first saison finished at 1.026, I bottled it, drank it, and enjoyed it thoroughly, even though it was sweet.
 
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