Saison for the season

My BIAB saison recipe was to be fermented with cultured Saison Dupont yeast, but the attempt failed and I went with White Labs WLP 565, for two days inside at about 68F, ramped to 72F for a couple, and then at ambient garage temps. I plan to let it go three weeks and bottle. Wish me luck, and/or provide opinions.

% LB OZ Malt or Fermentable
38% 4 0 Belgian Pilsner Malt
19% 2 0 Belgian Pale
14% 1 8 Briess Munich Malt
9% 1 0 Red Wheat
9% 1 4 Table Sugar
3.0% 0 8 Honey Malt
3.0% 0 6 Honey
3.0% 0 6 Flaked Oats
1.5% 0 4 Turbinado

Batch size: 5.5 gallons

Original Gravity
1.061
(1.055 to 1.064)
Final Gravity
1.002
(1.013 to 1.016)
Color
7° SRM / 15° EBC
(Gold to Copper)
Mash Efficiency
75%

hops
use time oz variety form aa
boil 45 mins 1.0 Kazbeck pellet 8.0
boil 10 mins 1.0 Styrian Goldings pellet 5.4

Boil: 7.0 avg gallons for 60 minutes
Bitterness 29.2 IBU
1 sprig rosemary at the 15 minute mark
One large lemon peel at 10 min.

Any thoughts? Austin Homebrew has the grain bill on the way.

I'd be worried about inconsistent day/night temperatures in your garage.
Ideally, you'd ramp temps from 68 at start for 2 or 3 days, then ramp 3 degrees a day till you hit high 80s, max 92 or so.
If your garage is hitting 90s right away you may get some harsh solvent fusels and esters, and if the temp drops into the 60s at night (probably won't happen in Arkansas?), the yeast could stall. Which is a PITA to get back going.

I also don't think a 2 week fermentation with this yeast is likely. It usually takes 4 or more to get to terminal gravity. You need a way to take sanitary gravity samples so you know what the beer is doing.

If you have any possible way to control the temp a bit (swamp cooler, ice bottles, etc), it would be a big help in getting you a superior beer.

It looks like a tasty recipe, good luck!

wolfman_48442 said:

I'd be worried about inconsistent day/night temperatures in your garage.
Ideally, you'd ramp temps from 68 at start for 2 or 3 days, then ramp 3 degrees a day till you hit high 80s, max 92 or so.
If your garage is hitting 90s right away you may get some harsh solvent fusels and esters, and if the temp drops into the 60s at night (probably won't happen in Arkansas?), the yeast could stall. Which is a PITA to get back going.

I also don't think a 2 week fermentation with this yeast is likely. It usually takes 4 or more to get to terminal gravity. You need a way to take sanitary gravity samples so you know what the beer is doing.

If you have any possible way to control the temp a bit (swamp cooler, ice bottles, etc), it would be a big help in getting you a superior beer.

It looks like a tasty recipe, good luck!

Click to expand...

Thanks-I was about to give up. I can do the three days in the high 60's with no problem. After that I will just have to go with what is natural. I'd imagine the original saisons were not controlled too much temp wise. If I don't add ice to the swamp the temps will rise to about 71 or so. Then if I take it out of the water up to around 75. Then I just will have to go with what the garage is. My guess is high 70's to mid 80's in the day, and low to mid 70's at night. I'll let you know how it turns out.

I have noticed these forums leave a lot of posts unreplied to which I don't like. I am on forums where every post gets 3-5 replies, regardless of the simplicity or even silliness of the post. I appreciate you taking the time to give me your opinion.

I recommend getting an aquarium heater to raise the water temp in your swamp cooler. I did this with a saison last year and it worked like a charm. One of my best beers yet.

hogwash said:

I recommend getting an aquarium heater to raise the water temp in your swamp cooler. I did this with a saison last year and it worked like a charm. One of my best beers yet.

Click to expand...

OK, I'll check it out. Thanks.

I ended up fermenting at 67F for three days and then ramping up to 73 for two and then putting this in the 80-84F garage for a little over two weeks. The WLP565 rendered this down to 1.002 in 22 days. Some talk online about 565 not having very good attenuation, but I obviously had no hang ups and that bad boy chewed this sugar rich saison up! Taste was peppery and pretty warm (and at 8% abv it very well might), but the oats left it with some body. Very pleased thus far. Waiting for Belgian bottles from NB to get this baby conditioning. Can't wait for the first real taste of it.

Keep us posted on how this turns out after you bottle it.

That's a lot of stuff going in that beer.

I think I want to try a Saison brew... It seems like I have the temps in my house for it... I can leave it in my fermenter fridge the first couple of days at about 67 or so & then move it into a dark warmer room... Our house gets up to about 80 during the day... It was 110 today & my air was running @ 83Degrees. I think I would like to try it, but also do something else inside my fridge at the same time that might be done before the Saison... I am a newbie around here... my hubby & i brewed our first a week ago. We plan on bottling the middle of next week - so we are close & soon it will be time for the second brew. We decided to go back to our LHBS to grab another larger carboy - for we have 5 gallon glass now... The hubby wants more. He likes it & wants to do another one quickly..

So, I look forward to hear how your beer turns out... Look for my threads along the Beginners Brewers forum.. We brewed a Bock. Working on an update next week on bottling...
Good Luck!!


Peace. Love. & Beer.
CHEERS!!