In praise of saison yeast

Has anyone else brewed a saison and thought, "Wow. How does the yeast do it?"

I bottled a batch of saison on Monday and drank the half bottle I ended up with at the end. And I just can't believe a bunch of yeast can produce that sort of flavor and aroma. I've had saisons before, so I know how they can taste/smell. But I guess I never realized just how much of it can come from the yeast, rather than spices and other additions. Unbelievable! (I mean literally...if I knew nothing about brewing and someone told me there was nothing but grain, hops, water and yeast in the beer, I would not believe them).

I can't wait until this batch is carbed.

 

i've made a few, and loved them, but some are very touchy... lol so watch out.

 

Touchy how?

 

What yeast did you use Tom?

[edit] WLP566. Found it.

 

Yup, that's it! Sorry you had to search. I found myself sniffing my airlock every chance I got during the first couple of days of fermentation. The smells it gave off were so good.

 

3724 is a great yeast. But it gets stuck around 1030s. And i had it above 90 where it should be for a week. But never got below 1025. Thats after a month of fermentation. Ive used others with success

 

I've heard that 3724 gets stuck - I have a batch that is 2 weeks in with this strain. Haven't taken a hydro reading yet - but worrying about this. I have a smack pack of the 3711 French saison yeast in the fridge as a back up. Anyone add that at the end to finish up?

 

I used a 3711 starter on my Jalapeno Saison I have sitting in bottles right now (about a week in). It fermented and finished nicely (IIRC about 1.006-8). I like that yeats compared to the other saison varities because it ferments cooler.

 

There are folks who have gotten all the way to 1.001 with 3711. It dries it out like crazy (but the mouthfeel doesn't seem so dry). I've seen complaints that it's not as funky as 3724, but I haven't tried mine yet. Just bottled after two and a half weeks with a FG of 1.006 (and most, if not all, of the work was done in 4-5 days. lightning yeast, that) after an OG of 1.063

 

I did a 1.090 cider that finished at 1.000. Sure, its all simple sugar, but I reused the yeast and did a 1.070 saison, and that also finished at 1.000

That was with 3711

 

Are those grain or partial grain brews you guys are getting that low? Mine was extract and I got it from 1.056 to 1.008 (which is what I was aiming for). I imagine you'd have to do a long, low boil to get it super dry, no?

 

I used the two from Wyeast: French saison and Belgian saison. I preferred the French saision by a lot

 

My 1.006 was AG. I can't say what people have done special to get it lower, but mine was a very normal process, with a fairly low mash temperature. 1.008 is amazing from extract--my extracts always got stuck at 1.020 unless I added some simple sugars. It's a hard-working yeast.

 

Got down to 1.002 with my "house strain" of WLP Saison II + Dupont yeast. Mmmm yummy saison. A lot of people are in disbelief when I say that I didn't add any spices for sure.

 

3711 is a beast. I have extract Saisons finish at 1.004 several times.

I like 3711 a lot. I also use 3724 but temp comteol is more critical. I have one now that is at 1.003 using that yeast. mmmmmm