Urgent Help Needed! (2 damn issues!)

Just finished a Saison BIAB batch, and it's only my second batch, so I've run into a couple of issues I haven't had to deal with yet...

1) I used my first yeast smack pack ( Wyeast 3711 French Saison). As I go to pitch it, I realize the instructions say to let it incubate at least 3 hours before pitching...so, my wort is in the fermenter ready to go. Do I A) just keep the wort waiting and pitch in 3 hours, B) pitch now and hope, or C) go get the cheap dry yeast I have from a kit in a box 1 gallon thing?

and

2) The OG was very high, between 1.075 and 1.08. the recipe predicted 1.056.
This was a BIAB, ingredients for a 2.5 gallon batch as follows:
- 5.9 lbs Pilsen Malt
- 0.5 lbs Munich Dark
- 0.5 lbs Wheat

I mashed all grains at 150 degrees for 45 minutes. The instructions then said to add .75 gallons of water after removing grain. I did, but I rinsed it through the grain bag first as a kind of makeshift 'sparge', then poured in to the wort. I'm thinking this may be the problem.

Recipe also called for .4 lbs cane sugar, I used 1 cup, which is believe is closer to 0.5 lbs.

However, the recipe also called for 1 oz of hops at flame out. Then I took my sample for the hydrometer from the top. Could the dry hop/trub have caused a higher OG reading?

Thanks!

 

keeping the wort waiting will not hurt anything I do no chill brewing a lot and my wort sits for hour

not pitching the right amount of active can be a problem

all the best

S_M

 

From all that I've ever seen smacking the pack and waiting the three hours doesn't do much other than verify the yeast are viable. At 1.08 it sounds like you are going to be under pitching only using one pack and not using a starter so there could be some lag time.

 

I guess I'm hoping that, as this pack is enough for a 5 gallon batch and I'm only making 2.5, it will get the job done.

 

They say on the packet/tube "Pitch into 5 gallons of wort", but there is rarely adequate cells for 5 gallons of wort. I usually do a starter or pitch multiple packs if I haven't made a starter.

This is a good resource to help you figure out how much you should pitch:

http://yeastcalculator.com

 

I just did a saison with the same yeast. Did not let the package swell three hours and dumped it into a 2.5 gallon batch at 1.060 gravity. All has been well. Just bottled and it tastes great.

All the Best,
D. White

 

1. you're fine with pitching the yeast without waiting for the smack pack to swell. If you wait, and it swells up, you'll know that the yeast is viable, but as long as it's fresh and was handled properly, there's no reason to believe that it isn't just fine anyway. As long as your wort has cooled, i would probably pitch the yeast now.

2. plugging those ingredients into brewtarget, and assuming 75% efficiency, i get 1.079. Maybe the kit was assuming very low efficiency?

Did you cool your wort sample before measuring the gravity?
Did you end up with 2.5 gallons, or less than that?
Are you sure the sugar was supposed to go into the boil, not to be used as priming sugar?

 

your wort may not have mixed well enough to get an accurate reading. I think you and your beer will be fine. Relax... pitch the yeast and I would bet you a sixer it will be good or better.
Tom

 

thanks for the prompt help. I pitched it. Re-meausred, and OG was 1.075.

 

I had went to retrieve the smack pack to pitch and found it didn't smack, but pitched it anyway. This was a 5 Gal pale ale (1.045 or 1.054 -- can't remember which one now) but it did fine. I also think it will turn out just fine.

 

A couple months ago I pitched a smack pack of the 3711 in a 2.5 gallon batch (1.075) without a starter. The beer came out fine, and the yeast took off pretty quickly. That yeast is pretty bad-ass.

 

The key question.

I love saisons and I don't recall ever seeing a recipe calling for cane sugar in the boil.

 

I am glad you pitched the yeast instead of waiting. I have a poor track record getting the smack packs to burst. I have pitched more than once without it breaking and had no issues. I usually make a starter if I have time and if not will pitch more than one pack of yeast.

 

Sweet. Do you remember FG?

 

Yeah, I'm sure of it. It calls for it to be added when starting the boil.

This is my first BIAB as opposed to extract, I just assumed it had something to do with the efficiency of that method...

 

Yep, got my notes right here. OG was actually 1.076, FG was 1.013, 8.3%.