Wyeast 3724 Belgian Saison - they were right!

I brewed a Saison last week and pitched a bunch of Wyeast 3724 into it on Tuesday morning. Fermentation took off pretty quickly and was cranking along.

Thirty six hours later, the krauesen had fallen completely and it appeared that fermentation had stopped, or at least slowed down significantly. Specific gravity reading showed it was at 1.035.

From the Wyeast web site:


Bingo!

I raised the temperature a few degrees every few days, but it wasn't until it hit ~80 deg. F. that fermentation really kicked in again. It is now ~83 in my laundry room with the electric heat turned on and the door closed.

The air conditioner is on upstairs, and I'm afraid a tornado will form somewhere in the stairwell between floors!

But seriously, everything that's been said about this yeast is true-- it definitely needs very warm temperatures to do its job. I'll probably max it out around 85, and hopefully it will attenuate very well.

-Steve

Relax my brother-


I gently kicked mine up to 85 and let it sit there for almost 6 weeks. 4.5 weeks into it i did give the fermentor a gentle swirl to kick the yeast up and at the time it was sitting at 1.022.

Over the next 10 days it kicked ass all the way down to 1.0055


Soooo delicious!

SWEET!

I was just going to ask about this yeast.

My krausen dropped after 4 days (pretty typical for most of my brews), but was only at 1.030.

After 2 weeks, it was at 1.024. In the last five days, it only dropped to 1.020. All of this is at 80F

It's still bubbling (the beer, not the airlock) and I can see motion inside of the carboy, so I assume it's still going. I will wait another week to check the gravity. It just seems like it's going slowly. Now I have raised the temperature up to 84F.


(PS - meanwhile, a week after I brewed this, I brewed a 1.105 barley wine. It has already fermented out completely to 1.020!!!)

The last time I checked mine it was at the dreaded 1.020. IT is supposed to go to 1.012. It has heated up here in Denver so I am hoping...hoping for it to drop a tad more.

I just finished brewing a saison with this (it's carbing right now). Same thing -- vigorous start, then nothing, hovered around 1.035.

Wrapped it in some blankets, stuck it in a very hot closet, 2 weeks later down to 1.015, then 2 weeks after that down to 1.002.

Taste is phenomenal

I was hoping I didn't have to wait 4-6 weeks for this thing to ferment down...

-Steve

I had put mine in the hotter part of the house (no AC in my shack). I checked it last night....1.012 on the nose. It is a tad cloudy so I am going to add Isinglass this weekend when I rack to the secondary

I'm still a noob, but I had a stall in my Saison#3724. temp above 80 the whole time(banana bread smell for a while but it backed off) Someone told me Yeast energizer might kick it back up. I put in the prescribed amount and it took a stuck fermentation of 1.021(week and a half_ to 1.011 in about 4 days. I let it sit a few more, and broke my hydrometer but was able to get a reading at 1.011. So I bottled. tasted good from the hydro tube...

I had mine above 80 for 6 weeks (with a heat belt) and my recipe had 1lb cane sugar and it still got stuck at 1.020. I ended up adding notty and waiting a week before bottling at 1.008 and it is amazing now. Very tasty. Love it. Jamil's recipe.

Dang it... now I have to go check the gravity...

-Steve

Well, it's somewhere between 1.020 and 1.027, depending on how I read the refractometer. It's difficult to tell because the blue "line" is so diffuse. Either way, it looks I'm in this for the long haul. I'll avoid frustrating myself and won't check for at least another week.

Sample tastes great, though! Definitely one of my better ones, IMHO.

-Steve

I'm brewing my saison tomorrow, but I'm using 3711 instead. We'll see if it reacts differently.

ChshreCat said:

I'm brewing my saison tomorrow, but I'm using 3711 instead. We'll see if it reacts differently.

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3711? Cool... didn't even know they had that one. I guess I'm not good enough for their "Private Collection". Interesting that it has a lower temperature range than their other Saison yeast.

-Steve

SavageSteve said:

3711? Cool... didn't even know they had that one. I guess I'm not good enough for their "Private Collection". Interesting that it has a lower temperature range than their other Saison yeast.

-Steve

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I just had to get my LHBS to set a smack pack aside for me. They only got them a couple at a time.

I'm hoping the lower temp range will work in my favor. I bought my ingredients and the heatwave immediately passed. It's been in the 60's now! I might actually have to work to keep this thing warm.

I think this is going to be a good yeast (3711)! The one I did last week is down to 1.006!

SavageSteve said:

Well, it's somewhere between 1.020 and 1.027, depending on how I read the refractometer. It's difficult to tell because the blue "line" is so diffuse. Either way, it looks I'm in this for the long haul. I'll avoid frustrating myself and won't check for at least another week.

Sample tastes great, though! Definitely one of my better ones, IMHO.

-Steve

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You're aware that you need to use calculations to detect the SG from beer that is already fermenting right? You can't just use the reading straight off the refractometer.

Either way, mine was right round there on monday, today it's at 1.014. It's still trucking! I'm just going to wait another week. It taste awesome even warm and uncarbonated! I can't wait.

I picked up a pack of 3724 last week and am going to brew up my Saison on Monday. I know, kinda late in the game but better late than never. What temp did you guys mash at? Is 148F too low?

WorryWort said:

You're aware that you need to use calculations to detect the SG from beer that is already fermenting right? You can't just use the reading straight off the refractometer.

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Yes. I use BeerTools Pro to calculate the current SG based on the OG. I think the problem with the reading is that the sucrose in the recipe is making the blue line too diffuse.

DrinksWellWithOthers, I did a partial mash and meant to do it at 148, but I overshot and the mash settled in at 150. Over the course of the rest, though, it dropped to 146, so hopefully it will still be very fermentable. I used a little over a pound of sucrose to help dry it out as well.

-Steve

Gah... no brewing for me today. Extra innings at work last night so I didn't get out until after midnight, and then forgot to get a few things ready I needed to do last night. No clue when I'll have a chance to brew this now. Grains are crushed and in the fridge.

mine is at 1.012. I racked to the secondary and added isinglass to clear it up a bit. I read some other threads and they said Saison should finish lower? The recipe I did from Brewing Classic styles said it should finish @ 1.008 but Beer smith had it @ 1.012 ish. think I should pitch some Champagne yeast or will that dry it out too much or cause harm?

Just did a saison this past weekend, mashed at 148* for 90 minutes. Not too low of a temp at all. Split the 11gal batch into two, using 3724 for one and 3522 for the other.

Day 3 - fermenting at ~84* upping it to ~90* tonight or tomorrow, then possibly up to 95* later this week if I feel crazy.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/miss-saison-her-surly-sister-131497/

DrinksWellWithOthers said:

I picked up a pack of 3724 last week and am going to brew up my Saison on Monday. I know, kinda late in the game but better late than never. What temp did you guys mash at? Is 148F too low?

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Is it just me, or are Belguim yeast just really lazy. It seems they have been spoiled by the monks for too many centuries and they all seem to require to be rousted.
I hate lazy workers, but it takes one to know one.

I couldn't wait a week to take another SG reading.

It's now somewhere between 1.014 and 1.020, so the yeast is still definitely in the game. Temperature is holding ~85 deg. F. I swirled the yeast somewhat vigorously to help rouse it to assist with a strong finish.

-Steve

Kauai_Kahuna said:

Is it just me, or are Belguim yeast just really lazy. It seems they have been spoiled by the monks for too many centuries and they all seem to require to be rousted.
I hate lazy workers, but it takes one to know one.

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dude. you need to pray to them.

I just bottled my saison. It was at 85-87 for ~6 weeks and I roused the yeast for the last 3 weeks pretty gently, so I figured it was done. Gravity at bottling = 1.024

I didn't prime them so we'll see what they do in the bottles, I'll try to keep them warm. They're plastic so at least it won't be that dangerous of a situation if they overcarb. Assuming I get the lazy prick yeasties to actually ferment any further. Jesus.

I'm not sure precisely, but I remember recently reading in the Farmhouse Ales book that the Dupont strain can do really well at 75-82 degrees, and produces less phenols. I should look up the reference.

In any case, my harvested standard dupont + christmas dupont = crazy fast. Granted, I made a nice starter for it, but it finished in 2 days, from 1.055 to 1.010. It'll likely dry out a tad more, but either way I'm really satisfied with it. I fermented around 80 degrees, but it may have risen a few degrees.

I hereby declare my Saison a complete success!!!:rockin: and what I mean by success is that does not suck. I am new to to the style also. I like them, packs a good buzz.

Thanks to everyone on the board

I brewed a Saison on Sunday, the OG was 1.053. The krausen fell yesterday and it's sitting at about 1.022. The temp is holding steady at the mid to high 80's. It's wrapped in towels and a heating pad. Now the waiting game begins...

The last one I brewed started at 1.060 and stalled at 1.035. It took months, but it finally finished at about 1.006

This yeast is a pain.

You should try 3711 on your next one.

Well, she's finally down to 1.011 after four fracking weeks. It was 1.014 six days ago, so I'm not sure when it hit 1.011, or even if it's done.

The taste is great-- nice pilsener maltiness with a mellow tartness, slightly spicy, crisp, and some definite alcohol.

I'll give it a few more days to see what happens. Right now, it's at 80% apparent attenuation which is the top of the range for this yeast. It just feels so wrong to have it sitting at 85 deg. F. for so long...

-Steve

Reverend JC said:

Relax my brother-


I gently kicked mine up to 85 and let it sit there for almost 6 weeks. 4.5 weeks into it i did give the fermentor a gentle swirl to kick the yeast up and at the time it was sitting at 1.022.

Over the next 10 days it kicked ass all the way down to 1.0055


Soooo delicious!

Click to expand...

I am a day less than a month into my saison it has been at 1019 for four days. Today, I decided it needed a gentle reminder of who's in charge, so I gave it a pretty strong swirl (a child services social worker might call it a shake). I am going to give it a week to drop some gravity points before I call in the French Saison or good old 1054 to clean things up. It's tasting pretty yummy as it is now. I can't wait for it to dry out.

weremichael said:

I am a day less than a month into my saison it has been at 1019 for four days. Today, I decided it needed a gentle reminder of who's in charge, so I gave it a pretty strong swirl (a child services social worker might call it a shake). I am going to give it a week to drop some gravity points before I call in the French Saison or good old 1054 to clean things up. It's tasting pretty yummy as it is now. I can't wait for it to dry out.

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I had a similar experience. It didn't drop after swirling. I used notty, which is only $2/pack, for 2 extra weeks, and it turned out excellent. One of my favorite beers.

Well, I'm officially calling it at 1.010. It tastes great, although it seems like the tartness is a bit sharper and the hop bitterness is more pronounced. It's probably just from the yeast leaving the scene-- I bet it'll mellow after some conditioning.

Time to chill it, keg it, carb it and drink it! Oh, and send it off to the competition.

-Steve

Glad it got down.

This thread was a great read, watching it count down to done-ness.

Revvy said:

Glad it got down.

This thread was a great read, watching it count down to done-ness.

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So am I! I think only my first brew ever and my first lager ever were as interesting as this one. To be honest, though, I think next time I'll go with 3711-- I don't think I have the patience for another ferment like this!

-Steve

I put the carboy in the refrigerator a few days ago to settle the yeast out.

*Sigh*...

There's barely an inch of clear beer at the top-- the rest is still hazy with yeast. Once a slow yeast, always a slow yeast.

Unless this beer wins an award or somehow gets me rich off my a$$, I am never using this yeast again. Total PITA.

But it does taste pretty good so far...

-Steve

probably a bad time to tell you what my saison with 3711 looks like right now, huh?

ChshreCat said:

probably a bad time to tell you what my saison with 3711 looks like right now, huh?

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What, you haven't finished drinking it all by now?

-Steve

a few things.... i brewed mine about 6 weeks ago, jz's recipe. OG was 1.062, huge slurry pitched at 68 degrees, then i let it go up to about 78 for a week. checked it, it was at 1.035, so i broke out the heating blanket and let it get above 80. checked 2 weeks later and it was at 1.020. a week later it was at 1.011. i decided to be patient and REALLY try to dry this one out. i kegged it last night at 1.002.

also, per the BJCP style guidelines, haziness is acceptable in this style, so unless you REALLY want it clear, don't worry about it, drink up

SavageSteve said:

What, you haven't finished drinking it all by now?

-Steve

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I haven't bottled it yet! I got invaded by fruit flies and didn't want to crack the airlock with those little buggers around. They're about gone now and I might bottle over the weekend.