Saison Starter Help

Alright, let me start out by saying that I normally would not ask this question, but I am going out of town this coming week and I wanted to have this done before I left.

I made a 1.5L starter with 3711 French Saison yesterday. This morning, I put it in the fridge. It looks damn near as cloudy as it did ten hours ago. Time comes into play, because I wanted to ferment at 68 for a few days and then throw on a brew belt and let it ferment out while I am gone. I still need to brew the damn beer and the clock is ticking.

Has anyone had experience with this yeast in making a starter? How long should I expect for full flocculation in the fridge? Thanks.

 

3711 is a low flocculation yeast so it won't flocculate as much as you are hoping. I would just pitch your whole starter. I've done It many times when I didn't have time for a cold crash. You won't get any off flavors from it.

 

I am going to go ahead and do that. It is just not clearing up. I've always decanted heavily and pitched the yeast with a very little amount of the starter wort. I was a little concerned because of the primarily base malt recipe. My worry is that any off flavors will show up more than in something like a stout. If it works for you, I'll go ahead and give it a go. Thanks so much.

 

3711 is a beast, I use it often. I've never had less than 80% attenuation. If you want to decant you'll need at least 24 hours at <40 degrees and even then you'll be chucking a fair amount of yeast. 1.5 liters isn't too huge; I'd have no problem with pitching the whole starter. As for not being home, I'd pitch cool, low 60's wort temperature, and leave it somewhere in the low 70's. it will gradually rise and ferment a bit warm, but that gives great attenuation and lots of Belgian character...