Farmhouse Ale help

Looks like this is going to be Friday nite's brew. Looking for something similar to Red Sky at Night by Clipper City but slightly less alcohol. Your thoughts, particularly the mash and ferment temps:

Chapin Farmhouse Ale

7.5 lbs Pilsen (1.8 SRM) 72.50 %
8.0 oz Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) 5.00 %
8.0 oz Vienna Malt (3.0 SRM) 5.00 %
8.0 oz Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) 5.00 %
8.0 oz Wheat, Torrified (1.7 SRM) 5.00 %
4.0 oz CaraVienne (20.0 SRM) 2.5 %
8.0 oz Honey (1.0 SRM) 5.00 %
0.50 oz Glacier [5.10 %] (90 min) (FWH) 8.2 IBU
0.50 oz Palisade [8.40 %] (60 min) 16.9 IBU
0.50 oz Palisade [8.40 %] (10 min) 3.4 IBU
0.125 tsp Lactic Acid (HLT)
2 lb Apricots, Pureed (Secondary 7.0 days)
Farmhouse Ale (Wyeast Labs #3726) (1.2L starter)

Mash @ 148°F for 75 Min.
Ferment @ 82°F-84°F

OG:1.056
SRM: 5.2
IBU: 28.5

Looks great, except the ferment temp. I haven't used that yeast in particular, but I would still pitch lower, such as mid-60s and let it warm up from there. No issue hitting those high temps once rolling, but I like to keep it cool in the growth phase, same as JZ recommends in his Saison recipe process.

Quaker said:

Looks great, except the ferment temp. I haven't used that yeast in particular, but I would still pitch lower, such as mid-60s and let it warm up from there. No issue hitting those high temps once rolling, but I like to keep it cool in the growth phase, same as JZ recommends in his Saison recipe process.

Click to expand...

+1

It's better to pitch your yeast under fermentation tempatures and allow them to raise up to your target. Don't worry, it'll still get you those funky farmhouse flavors by pitching low and letting it climb up. I do that with Belgians and Saisons all the time.

Thanks, I guess I'll have to research that yeast some more. Thought I read it will stall if pitched any lower. I used WY3711 before at those temps. I've never used this stuff...

This baby is just about done. Started fermentation at 70°F. Bumped it up 1°/day until 75°. Added Apricot Puree to primary a few days ago. Will rack next weekend! Didn't realize my smack pack was almost 4 yrs old. Took me 10-11 days to ranch it up to 3.6L (we did 15 gal). It was rocking a few hours after pitch!

Yeast are amazing critters. There's not much else that you can seal up in a vial or pouch, and it's still alive 4 years later, feebly, but alive.