Saison plus extra sugar ... what should I do next?

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jambafish

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I just brewed the Petite Saison d'Ete NorthernBrewer Extract Kit with Wyeast French Saison #3711.

Couple of things I did and want to do, but I'm really second guessing whether my monkeying around will be the downfall of this beer?

1. I decided on a whim to add 1/4 cup of Clear Candi Syrup 1# to the brew along my malt addition.
3. Now I'm thinking that was a mistake. I've never heard such action in a carboy before now. With all that extra sugar I'm wondering if I should perhaps pitch extra yeast (White Labs WLP351 Bavarian Weizen or champagne yeast) just to dry it out?

OG1052.

Any ideas on how the addition (candi) will transform this beer? Any ideas on whether I should add another yeast to dry it out?
 
Don't do anything, it will be fine. As long as you leave it like it is the yeasties will do their job and should ferment it pretty dry. Last Saison I did was left in the primary for 3 weeks, finished at 1.004 and was crystal clear.

Do not add any additional yeast or ingredients! Saison's get their character from the yeast and 3711 is a monster of a yeast and should plow through what you have with no issue.
 
I don't think there's a better yeast to add, if 3711 can't chew it up you're in trouble, and a couple tablespoons of Candi isn't going to make or break your saison.

Sit back and forget about it for a month, it'll be just fine.
 
I'm interested to see how your attenuation turns out with all extract. I've used 3711 for late addition PM batches and it's never had a problem drying out the beer. I find that with 3711 the problem becomes too much attenuation (which isn't a terrible problem to have by any means). By default I always assume that it will finish at at least 1.006 and normally lower. I'm more concerned with adding too much fermentable sugar and making a hot boozy beer. I don't think you'll have that problem in this case at all though. It'll be a good beer.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I'll leave it as is then. I was also afraid of the ale being too hot, but I guess we'll see about that.

My hope was to crank it a little, but it was all so completely unscientific.

I'll report back. Right now I can say that it's bubbling and gurgling more than any beer I've brewed. I mean those little guys are going to town, and I'm sure the extra sugar is helping. It's doubtful that I'd be bottling in two weeks, but there's a lot of trube and I want to get it off of that before it picks up too much of the hops.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I'll leave it as is then. I was also afraid of the ale being too hot, but I guess we'll see about that.

My hope was to crank it a little, but it was all so completely unscientific.

I'll report back. Right now I can say that it's bubbling and gurgling more than any beer I've brewed. I mean those little guys are going to town, and I'm sure the extra sugar is helping. It's doubtful that I'd be bottling in two weeks, but there's a lot of trube and I want to get it off of that before it picks up too much of the hops.

It should be fine, as others have said 3711 will eat everything in its' path. Do you have brewing software, if not you can plug in your recipe specs here http://beercalculus.hopville.com/recipe then add your candi syrup/sugar addition and it'll give you a ballpark idea of how much you've increased your potential ABV, etc from the original recipe kit.

And don't get too anxious about racking it to get it off the trub, you can let it sit in primary for a few weeks while the yeast do their thing.
 
there's a lot of trube and I want to get it off of that before it picks up too much of the hops.

Don't touch it for at least 3 weeks. Let the yeast do it's job. If you rush it it may not clear well. Just put it in a closet and brew another batch. :rockin:
 
Late late night I heard the yeast slooooow down. It's barely a bubble now and again after serious work. What do we think about gently moving them around in a couple of days to see if anyone is hungry and trapped under the trube rubble?
 
i would leave it be... there are still tons of yeast in suspension. it will be best to just leave it sit for a full 3-4 weeks before doing anything.
 
Ditto that. While some Saison yeast strains (Dupont) need to be roused or gradually warmed for full attenuation, 3711 will keep working without any encouragement, no need to slosh it around. Leave it for a few weeks, and I'll wager that it'll finish out nicely around 1.005~1.008.
 
Okay, so it's come to the point of bottling. Some said to wait another week, but the timing is perfect right now. Thing is, there is still a little activity in there. It bubbles about every 3-5 minutes. Is it a crime or a problem (say, bottle bombs) to bottle before the end of active fermentation?
 
Yes it is a problem to bottle before it is done. It has only been two weeks. Of course, everybody will say take a gravity reading to see if it is done, but it is not done. The longer it sits the better. I like to leave mine for four weeks.

The more you read on here the more you will see that patience is the key. The best way to be patient is to have more beer than you can possibly drink. Brew some more, then brew some more. Get to the point where you have four batches going at a week apart.

Then bottle for three weeks and keep brewing. Now you have 6 cases of beer and 20 gallons in the pipeline. You are going to need lots of empty bottles.
 
Step away from the fermenter.......

This yeast is a beast and will eat evrything in the fermenter. I did a Saison and only left it 3 weeks. FG was 1.005, but I had a hard time getting the beer to clear. The next time I used 3711 I left it for a full 5 weeks and it was much better. The yeast had time to clean up and drop out.

Let it sit.
 
Step away from the fermenter.......

This yeast is a beast and will eat evrything in the fermenter. I did a Saison and only left it 3 weeks. FG was 1.005, but I had a hard time getting the beer to clear. The next time I used 3711 I left it for a full 5 weeks and it was much better. The yeast had time to clean up and drop out.

Let it sit.

you bring up a good point here... the clarity of this beer will benefit from a cold-crash prior to bottling.
 
Alright, I stepped back.

. . . But only to do something a little bonehead with my IPA. The yeast in my IPA was quite dormant after a month and a half in the secondary, so I wanted to add some yeast. I only had a smack pack of English Ale yeast available for a stout I'm brewing, so I brewed up a starter for that and poured a little into my cooled bottling sugar mix for my IPA. I racked on top of the sugar and yeast and bottled without remembering to slowly stir in order to make sure there was an even mixture.

It only dawned on me at the bottom of the bucket so I tasted what was there and it was both sweet and yeasty.

I've bottled before without stirring, but I've never added a little yeast first. This should be interesting.

Still learning. :|
 
Just reporting back to let you all know that I finally had to cold crash the Saison because it seemed as if it just wasn't going to stop! I bottled and three weeks later while the carbonation is still working and the head retention is young in the conditioning process, it's the best thing I've brewed. That is to say, it's really good.
 

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