3711 saison, too late to heat?

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evandena

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I pitched Wyeast 3711 last Sunday, 3/16 from starter. Kept temps about 68 through a glycol chiller and coil in a reflectix wrapped conical for the first 2 days.

I initially thought the yeast would heat themselves up to mid 70's, but they seem to only get to 70 degrees. I had an order in to Amazon for a submersible heater, but apparently it's completely unknown when it will get here (third party sale).

My question is, is it too late to throw in an aquarium heater and try to heat it up? I haven't taken a gravity reading yet, but it's still bubbling.
 
Never too late!

I mean, it might be too late for a great effect, because the more complete fermentation is when you raise the temperature, the less esters/phenols you'll add in the finished beer. So yes, ideally you would have raised the temp sooner, but you certainly won't hurt anything by raising it whenever the heater does get there.


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Never too late!

I mean, it might be too late for a great effect, because the more complete fermentation is when you raise the temperature, the less esters/phenols you'll add in the finished beer. So yes, ideally you would have raised the temp sooner, but you certainly won't hurt anything by raising it whenever the heater does get there.


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As I figured. I'll give it a shot, like you said, can't hurt!

Would you suggest a gradual ramping at this point, or take it straight to upper 70's?
 
Don't need to fret too much. 3711 likes normal ale yeast temps and will do well at colder temps. Just expect a more phenolic/spicy flavor. It'll do just fine with some heat but doesn't need the high temp like the DuPont strain does.

We have two nearby commercial breweries that use 3711 for Belgians and Saisons and they keep it in the low 70's.


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Don't need to fret too much. 3711 likes normal ale yeast temps and will do well at colder temps. Just expect a more phenolic/spicy flavor. It'll do just fine with some heat but doesn't need the high temp like the DuPont strain does.

We have two nearby commercial breweries that use 3711 for Belgians and Saisons and they keep it in the low 70's.


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And for a commercial beer in the low 70s, homebrewers can be 3-5 degrees lower to achieve a similar flavor profile (yeast in large batches are under pressure and produce a cleaner flavor profile at the same temp compared to 5G batches).

Also he's right, DuPont strain is much more finicky and tends to stall around 1.030, which is why you've heard lots of advice about 90°F or bust!

AND, as Andrew also pointed out, phenols are enhanced at lower temps, and with saisons that's what you want / spiciness! So ramp it up maybe 2-3 degrees a day to 75-80 if you want to, but otherwise just taste it and if it's good, keg it up.
 
I used WY3711 without any temperature control for my latest petite saison. My ambient temperature was 66°. The amount of third generation yeast I pitched was definitely an overpitch. The highest temperature the wort achieved was 69.8°. The saison finished at 1.003. I bottled it this morning. I was surprised the yeast didn't raise the temperature any higher than almost 4°. This batch is a little spicier than the last two temp controlled batches.
Previous batches finished at 1.006.
I like the spicier flavor over the Belgian fruit flavors.
 
People stress way too much about heating a saison, it's not necessary. You can heat it after main fermentation is done to get full attenuation, the rest is just about fine-tuning the flavor profile--which is not as cut and dry as the old "cold spicy/hot fruity" rule, I can't say I have a good handle on it but it's not as simple as that, certainly (other factors seem to be involved there, pitch rate and other stressors for example?).

If you are having attenuation trouble a heater might help, but it doesn't matter how long it sits in the 60s/70s before you get it there. A saison should finish as close to 1.000 as possible in my book, almost irrespective to the OG (since high-grav saison should be dried out from a big sugar addition, IMO).
 
Thanks guy. I found a local 300w fish tank heater that is now heating the glycol bath. Beer was at 1.026, and is now sitting at 75 degrees.
I used Nelson Sauvin and Sorachi Ace, so I wanted a bit fruitier yeast to try and balance the spice of Sorachi.
 
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