Imperial Farmhouse Ale Questions

I plan on brewing my first big beer soon, wanting a little feedback on how to go about it.

Anticipated OG 1.102 and I'll be using yeast slurry from a saison brewed with Belle Saison.

1. Can Belle Saison tolerate 11-13% alcohol?

2. Is yeast nutrient/energizer recommended as there'll be around 15% sugar?

And any added feedback that may be useful. I've done approximately 15 beers so far but none this huge......

Thanks in advance

 

I have not pushed it to that high of gravity, but it probably would handle it. There also is a good chance that it could just blow past your anticipated FG. That yeast is a real beast. Every time I have used it the FG ended up near 1.000-1.002. But those beers were in the 1.060-1.070 range.

I would probably cut you OG back a little to account for this.

Yeast nutrient and oxygen is always a good idea for bigger beers.

Here is the spec sheet it shows that it has high attenuation and high alcohol tolerance. It does not give a number though.

http://www.danstaryeast.com/system/files/pdfs/tds-belle-saison-english_0.pdf?download=1

 

Normally for that yeast, I like to ferment a bit warm -- in the mid- to upper- 70's. However, with a huge beer like that, I'd try to keep your fermentation temperatures in the 60's, otherwise you'll have a blow-off nightmare. The yeast will still create plenty of those great earthy Saison flavors in that beer. You may have to ramp the temp up a little towards the end of your fermentation.

I agree with beergolf on the yeast nutrients, and that you'll really want to oxygenate your wort thoroughly. Make sure your pitch rate is adequate, too.