backfromhiatus
Member
From reading plenty of threads I think I know the answers here, but wanted to get insight from the hive mind. So, I guess this goes under "what do I do next" instead of "is my beer ruined?"
I brewed a saison on September 3rd; it was my first brew in about 15 years. Extract, partial boil. It's been in the primary since then. I haven't taken a gravity reading since pitching the yeast (WLP564 and WY3711), but plan to in the next day or two. OG was a smidge lower than expected (1.053 corrected v. 1.056) so I didn't top all the way up, just to about 4.5 gallons. I've wondered since whether the sample was representative or got too much of the water I'd mixed in.
Assuming ferm is finished, here are my questions:
1. Leave this in the primary another few weeks to clear and condition a bit more v. Rack secondary v. Bottle this weekend? My gut says leave.
2. When I do bottle, pitch a new saison right on the cake v. Washing the yeast? Can't quite tell if the potential off-flavors are bad enough to warrant washing and the lazy way is tempting until the temp here in SoCal drops enough/I get my second fridge set up to do a bitter.
3. When I bottle, bring this up to a full 5 gal, since 3711 tends to attenuate well enough that this could be mighty dry.
4. What do I do with this 5 gal carboy I bought as a potential secondary? Throw a few gallons of apple juice and some yeast in there and make cider?
Could go on, but my thumbs are tired. Anyone have thoughts?
I brewed a saison on September 3rd; it was my first brew in about 15 years. Extract, partial boil. It's been in the primary since then. I haven't taken a gravity reading since pitching the yeast (WLP564 and WY3711), but plan to in the next day or two. OG was a smidge lower than expected (1.053 corrected v. 1.056) so I didn't top all the way up, just to about 4.5 gallons. I've wondered since whether the sample was representative or got too much of the water I'd mixed in.
Assuming ferm is finished, here are my questions:
1. Leave this in the primary another few weeks to clear and condition a bit more v. Rack secondary v. Bottle this weekend? My gut says leave.
2. When I do bottle, pitch a new saison right on the cake v. Washing the yeast? Can't quite tell if the potential off-flavors are bad enough to warrant washing and the lazy way is tempting until the temp here in SoCal drops enough/I get my second fridge set up to do a bitter.
3. When I bottle, bring this up to a full 5 gal, since 3711 tends to attenuate well enough that this could be mighty dry.
4. What do I do with this 5 gal carboy I bought as a potential secondary? Throw a few gallons of apple juice and some yeast in there and make cider?
Could go on, but my thumbs are tired. Anyone have thoughts?