Saison Fermentation Temps

[Schwabizzle]

Hey All,

I am thinking about brewing up a saison and have been reading about how many are fermented at >80 degrees. I don't have the ability to heat my fermentation, so I was thinking about putting the carboy in the garage. I'm in Texas and it definitely gets hotter than 80 in the garage on a regular basis.

My questions are these;
1). Would it be okay to ferment in the garage where the temperature will fluctuate at night, but not that much since it stays around 80 even at midnight.

2). I have read about fermentations starting and stopping along the way. Have you had any experience with this? What time frame would I be looking at for a complete fermentation?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

 

[Amadeo38]

I would try to record the exact temperature swing you’re getting in the garage. If it’s more than a couple degrees you’re better off finding a saison strain that does well at your inside-the-house room temp. Any chance you have a “between” room that leads to the garage and isn’t as cool as the rest of the house but not subject to temperature fluctuations?

Stopping and starting fermentation from saison yeast sounds like some of the French strains that stall out under pressure or with high co2 exposure. There is a DuPont strain that kind of does that. Otherwise, most yeasts will crank until they’ve run out of sugar to consume, or if you’re lucky and they’re healthy, sugars plus their undesirable waste byproducts.

 

[flars]

Select your recipe and yeast first. Ferment by the guidelines for the yeast. You could have the fermentor in a tub of water in your garage for a hot fermentation. The mass of the water would eliminate the day/night temperature swings.

 

[divrack]

Yes the bucket should do you, although I think the need for super hot temp is overstated unless you are going high Abv. Consistent/steadily rising temp is more important than hot cold swings in my experience

 

[Schwabizzle]

I would try to record the exact temperature swing you’re getting in the garage. If it’s more than a couple degrees you’re better off finding a saison strain that does well at your inside-the-house room temp. Any chance you have a “between” room that leads to the garage and isn’t as cool as the rest of the house but not subject to temperature fluctuations?

Stopping and starting fermentation from saison yeast sounds like some of the French strains that stall out under pressure or with high co2 exposure. There is a DuPont strain that kind of does that. Otherwise, most yeasts will crank until they’ve run out of sugar to consume, or if you’re lucky and they’re healthy, sugars plus their undesirable waste byproducts.

I do have a closet that shares an outside wall and tends to be on the warmer side that I might monitor. Thanks for the info.

 

[Schwabizzle]

Select your recipe and yeast first. Ferment by the guidelines for the yeast. You could have the fermentor in a tub of water in your garage for a hot fermentation. The mass of the water would eliminate the day/night temperature swings.

Makes sense. I like this idea. Thanks.