Is this a sound idea?

So, I'll be brewing at a friends place on Tuesday. Ambient room (barn) temperature should be pretty constant around 60 degrees.

Pertaining to the yeast, I was thinking about mixing up half Pacman and half Wyeast 3711 French Saison with this logic. I think 60 degrees might be a bit low for 3711 to thrive in, but I think the Pacman will burn through the wort at that temperature. As the pacman metabolizes the sugars, do you think it will raise the temperature of the wort enough to allow the 3711 to also take off, or am I just waisting using the 3711?

3711 is an amazing strain, it seems to work at much lower temps than other saison strains (The Dupont strain is throwing fits for me at the moment despite sitting on a heating pad). I’ve never used it that low, but I’d suspect that it will work. Maybe wrap the fermenter in a sleeping bag to help it hold onto some of the heat generated by the Pacman.

What sort of recipe are you brewing? I really enjoyed the beers from Upright I tried while I was in Portand this summer (and they use 3711 as their house strain).

Yeah, upright is fun place. I've gotten the chance to help brew with Alex down there in the basement once. It's a cool atmosphere down there and I really like their tasting room set up. I've used 3711 in the warmer months. I think it will work. In the recipe, I'm mashing at 146.


Batch Size: 11.75 gal
Boil Size: 13.55 gal
Boil Time: 90 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 81.00

Notes: starter of 3711 & Pacman made bigger than normal to attenuate as low as possible. Pacman to lead fermentation, warm up fermentation to 65 to activate 3711.

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
12.50 lb Pilsen Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.5 SRM) Grain 47.17 %
8.00 lb Pale Malt Belgian (3.5 SRM) Grain 30.19 %
2.00 lb Caramel Malt - 80L 6-Row (Briess) (80.0 SRM) Grain 7.55 %
2.00 lb Vienna Malt (Briess) (3.5 SRM) Grain 7.55 %
0.75 lb Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 2.83 %
0.25 lb Chocolate (Briess) (350.0 SRM) Grain 0.94 %

1.25 oz Magnum [14.20 %] (90 min) Hops 23.2 IBU
2.25 oz Saphir [3.70 %] (5 min) Hops 2.3 IBU

0.50 oz Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.00 lb Candi Sugar, Clear (0.5 SRM) Sugar 3.77 %



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.067 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.067 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 8.1 %
Bitterness: 25.4 IBU
Est Color: 17.8 SRM


Mash Profile

Mash
Total Grain Weight: 25.50 lb
Sparge Water: 8.80 gal Grain Temperature: 70.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F TunTemperature: 70.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE Mash PH: 5.4 PH

60 min Step Add 7.91 gal of water at 157.2 F, mash at 146.0 F
10 min Step Heat to 168.0 F over 2 min 168.0 F, sparge with 168.0 F.

I got to talk to Alex briefly, seemed like a really nice guy.

Looks like a good recipe, just brewed a dark saison over the weekend at about the same gravity/color. We added some buckwheat honey, figs, and anise. Fermenting slowly with the finicky Dupont strain, Brett C, and some Russian River dregs.