Saison techniques

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leotrace

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So a friend of mine and I have decided to tackle brewing a Saison. When we went to the HBSS they suggested we gently heat the fermenter up to 80 degrees and agitate the yeast so that it doesn't fall out of solution. Does anyone have good techniques for both of these techniques? I'm assuming that swirling the fermenter would be the best technique for agitation but I wasnt sure if there was a better one. And as for the heating, should I use a space heater on low?
 
Couple things to keep in mind: Fermenting temps are usually 5-7* higher than ambient temps. So my apartment is usually 75-ish, and left on it's own my fermenting beer will get up to 80* easily without any heat input.

The temp really depends on the strain. The Wyeast saison strain from Brasserie Dupont in Wallonia definitely likes higher temps, the Wyeast 3711 from Thiriez just south of Belgium likes lower temps.

A gentle swirling will keep the yeast in suspension, but from my experience with 3711 at least, the yeast will stay in suspension on its own. I had krausen for a good 3 weeks with that strain. I have a couple of brew belts for heating beer in the winter, though I seldom need to use them in my current apartment.
 
At peak fermentation the temps can be 5-7* higher but that is usually in the first 48-72 hours of activity for an ale yeast, the temps start to slide back towards ambient as yeast activity subsides once most of the sugars have been consumed; at which point slowly raising to a reasonable temp can help get a lower final gravity. The Kalamazoo LHBS does not carry Wyeast so White Labs is the brand in question, so that leaves WLP565 - Belgian Saison I or WLP568 - Belgian Style Saison Ale Yeast blend since WLP566 - Belgian Saison II is out of season. 565 is the Wallonia strain that from my experiences does like to quit early and could stand to start around 70 and after a few days start to raise the temp up and start gently swirling once in a while to encourage attenuation . If you use a stick on thermometer (liquid crystal thermometer) just keep an eye on it and a space heater could work depending on the size and normal temp of your fermentation area. The Belgian style blend is more forgiving and would probably attenuate fine sticking around the warmer side of 70 for the duration of the ferment.
 
I may do my first saison next batch. I was going to put the fermentor in a large platsic container filled with water and an aquarium heater I already had. The heater has a built in thermostat and is easy to adjust.
 
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