Saison not stuck but slow?

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cpz28

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3 weeks ago I brewed a saison using wyeast 3724. I know this yeast is finicky but damn. I made a nice starter and my OG was .070. Complements of a space heater the ferment temp of this beer has been a constant 88-93F. So after 3 weeks of constant fermenting the gravity is .040 (fg should be like .010). I was shocked. How could this be, I thought I'd done everything right. It is still fermenting slowly but surely. I did find it odd that this beer only had a krausen during the first 48 hours of fermentation. Should I remove it from heat and pitch some champagne yeast or some dry yeast (safale 05)? Should I let it keep going even though it may take forever?
 
88 to 93 seems a little high to me. I'm actually brewing a saison kit from Morebeer next and it says to pitch at 68 and hold for 3 days and then to raise the temp up 2 degrees per day until you get to 80. Hold at 80 until fermentation is complete.

I'm also curious about your starter. Pitching into 1.070, did you step up the gravity of your starter from 1.040? Also, what temp did you do your starter at? If you made your starter at room temp (70) and then pitched into 88-93, that could shock the yeast and you'd get poor attenuation.

I'm not an expert, really still just a novice. I'm curious about other's responses as I'm going to brew one next week and start my starter on Sunday.
 
88 to 93 seems a little high to me. I'm actually brewing a saison kit from Morebeer next and it says to pitch at 68 and hold for 3 days and then to raise the temp up 2 degrees per day until you get to 80. Hold at 80 until fermentation is complete.

This is the standard instruction set for a saison . . .but it is not a good way to do it. If you want a true Saison fruitiness and spice start at 80 and go to 86, even as high as 90. The fruit and spice esters that truly characterize saisons are developed in the first 72-96 hours of fermentation. They will continue to evolve and actually mellow out during additional warm fermenting but if you start at 68 and ease up to 80 over 6 days you will end up with almost no saison character.

Often the recipe will then fake those esters by adding spices to the beer. Pepper, cardomom, orange peel, etc.

I am surprised at the profile you are seeing CP. Those temps and 1.040? I have one working as we speak. It hit FG at day 6. This weekend will be 3 weeks and I think I will be bottling it. Maybe wait another week.
 
Hello folks,

I'm looking to brew a saison next week and am looking for some advice. Hailing from rainy and windswept Blighty I have had good results using a thermostatic immersion heater and temperature probe to heat my home brew. Given the high fermentation heat that a saison requires am I best taking out the heater after the initial 90 hours? Usually the FV settles at just over 20°c without any additional heat source.

Thanks for any advice.

Stuart
 
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