fermentation length for saison

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defenestrate

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how long do you guys recommend aging a saison before kegging? i brewed mine on 8/4 and i was going to transfer to secondary today. OG was 1065...i'm not sure where its at now because i broke my hydrometer :( i had a healthy fermentation and ramped up to low 80's so i'm feeling good about the attenuation. so long do you guys recommend for conditioning? i was thinking maybe 2 weeks at 68-70 degrees in the secondary, then keg? yay or nay?
 
It is probably not ready yet. Saison yeast is notoriously slow.
You should pick up a new hydrometer.
 
Plan9 said:
It is probably not ready yet. Saison yeast is notoriously slow. You should pick up a new hydrometer.
Click to expand...

bensyverson said:
Buy a new hydrometer?
Click to expand...

getting a new one was obvious, i dont need one to transfer to a secondary. i was really asking how long people wait before kegging/bottling a saison.... i havent brewed one before and wasnt sure if they had a quick turnaround or needed a couple months.
 
defenestrate said:
i dont need one to transfer to a secondary. .
Click to expand...

Sorry dude, but huh? How do you know when to secondary then?

DO NOT SECONDARY WITHOUT USING A HYDROMETER, if that's what you are suggesting. If you take the beer from the primary and put it into secondary before it's done then it won't finish out. If you don't use a hydrometer you can't possibly know when to transfer. (1 week in primary, 2 weeks in secondary is not a hard rule)

My saison recently took 4-5 weeks, I did not secondary at all. But I don't know what conditions your are fermenting under or what yeast you've used. Even if I did I couldn't tell you when to keg. I would safely plan on 3-4 weeks in primary though. You'll also likely need to raise the temp up around 80F, not just to ferment it out, but to also develop the right flavour profiles.

So you're right that most people need a long time for this type of yeast, but that's in primary not secondary. Maybe I misunderstood though.

Good luck!
 
WorryWort said:
Sorry dude, but huh? How do you know when to secondary then?

DO NOT SECONDARY WITHOUT USING A HYDROMETER, if that's what you are suggesting. If you take the beer from the primary and put it into secondary before it's done then it won't finish out. If you don't use a hydrometer you can't possibly know when to transfer. (1 week in primary, 2 weeks in secondary is not a hard rule)

My saison recently took 4-5 weeks, I did not secondary at all. But I don't know what conditions your are fermenting under or what yeast you've used. Even if I did I couldn't tell you when to keg. I would safely plan on 3-4 weeks in primary though. You'll also likely need to raise the temp up around 80F, not just to ferment it out, but to also develop the right flavour profiles.

So you're right that most people need a long time for this type of yeast, but that's in primary not secondary. Maybe I misunderstood though.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

under my usual circumstances i would not transfer with out a hydro... this is a rare time that its broken...i have never used the 1 2 3 method.... i almost always primary for 3 weeks, and i have had great attentuation thus far... but anyhoo... tuesday will be 3 weeks in primary. it started at 70 degrees, after 3 days it was 76, then i added 1 lb sugar, and took it up to 82+ where it has been up till now. i used wlp568, which is supposed to be a quick worker for a saison yeast.

anyways...what i'm really trying to get an answer about is the average time people age their saison before bottling or kegging, AFTER fermentation is complete... not asking when will my fermentation be complete... my mistake for not wording it correctly.

so my question to you worrywort would be did you bottle/keg after 4 weeks in primary or did you continue to age the beer for a few more weeks?
 
Ok, to answer based on my recent experience.

I left mine in primary for almost 2 months. No secondary, straight to the keg.
It sat for two months, because that's how long it took to full attenuate. Once it was down to 1.002 I kegged it.
A week later I was drinking it, and it is great.

this was with Wyeast Saison, fermentation starting in the mid 70s, and raising up into the mid 80s.
 
What yeast was it? Most Saison yeasts (apart from 3711) take an exceptionally long time to ferment out. 3 or 4 weeks may or may not do it.

Saison is known to age well, but from what I gather people usually age it in-bottle as opposed to bulk aging it in the secondary.

I would get a hydrometer and just bottle it a few days after you hit your expected FG.
 
defenestrate said:
so my question to you worrywort would be did you bottle/keg after 4 weeks in primary or did you continue to age the beer for a few more weeks?
Click to expand...

Gotcha,

Mine went straight to keg once it was done. I've heard that it benefits from a few weeks of aging, but I think that might be unnecessary if it primaries for 4 weeks. I just kegged mine a week ago though, and I'm pretty happy with it, not green or anything.
 
Saison yeast strains are notoriously fickle, often sticking around 1.035 then taking additional weeks to come down to FG - frustrating little bastards ;).

The right answer, of course, is wait until you have a hydrometer to verify FG. 3 weeks might not be enough, and you certainly won't be hurting things leaving it on the yeast for another week or so until you have a hydrometer in hand.
 
fine fine fine... i'm putting an order in tomorrow for some more batches and equipment, so i guess i'll just wait until that comes mid week before transferring.... i just want to drink it oh so bad ;) i'm usually not one to rush anything but i'm just very excited to try this bad boy out! maybe i'll post back when i pull a sample.... thanks guys.
 
It'll be worth the wait! And you sure don't want to wind up with bottle bombs just because you couldn't wait an extra two or three days to be sure...
 
flyangler18 said:
Saison yeast strains are notoriously fickle, often sticking around 1.035 then taking additional weeks to come down to FG - frustrating little bastards ;).
.
Click to expand...

I brewed a belgian saison this year and I used Wyeast belgian saison yest... and it's like tou say! the fermentation stopped at 1.030. Then I added wyeast trappist high gravity. in a cople of weeks the FG was 1.010, more than 80% AA...

I would use an hydrometer before kegging :tank:
 

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