Farmhouse Ale Wyeast 3726

[40watt]

How do you keep a fermentation at 90 for days, unless you're in the tropics?

I guess this guy has never been in the southern half of the country.

I could set a fermenter in my garage during the summer, and need a swamp cooler to keep it down to ninety.

 

[chass3]

Bumping this up for a beer review from chass3.

I brewed the same recipe from Northern Brewer, fermented at 85 degrees F and brought it from 1.071 to 1.004 in just over two weeks! It's my wife's favorite beer in the three years I've been brewing! Very spicy yeast flavor, but not the least bit of Fusels or off flavors. Yum!

I think my malt profile, which was decently complex- pilsner, aromatic, caramel wheat, carafa III, wheat DME, dark candi, and light LME, got in the way of the yeast shining through- I also could only get it down to like 1.012 from 1.075. I don't think I got my temps high enough, and I added an oz of Willamette at flameout so that's pretty present still, even now three months later. and an oz of 13.5 Magnum is a bit too bitter- at 50ish IBUs is too high, I'd shoot for 30ish next time. But I'll tell you what, once you've got a couple months on these, stick them in the fridge for a month or longer: long cold storage really seems to make a big difference.

my brew was also a partial-mash brew and so I can taste the extract in there. But I really like it and I may tweak it and brew it again for christmas with a simpler malt bill, probably just pilsner, wheat, and a ton of dark candi, and use some noble hops and saaz instead of the magnum and willamette I did use.

and invest in a space heater!

 

[MDVDuber]

chass, I brewed the all grain kit from Northern Brewer - which looks like the basis of your recipe and it was awesome - I say was - since the keg kicked this past weekend. You are correct that a little cold storage rounded it out nicely - but I never found the grain bill getting in the way of the yeast - in fact I think it was a really well designed beer - with some nice choclately, caramely notes that were a real treat. I think SWMBO has already decreed that it will be brewed at least once each year.....

Yes definitely some sort of temperature control is needed. I actually used my keezer - before it was officially a keezer with a lizard tank heater and a fan controlled by a Johnson Temp controller. I was amazed that the little tank heater could keep the 15 cu ft freezer so nice and warm. It was this beer that convinced me that I needed a Fermentation Chamber.

Anyhow - This yeast is definitely a leap of faith for an Ale brewer - I agonized over running the ferment this hot - but boy did it ever pay off.

Thanks for the feedback on your brew.

 

[chass3]

yeah, I did use the NB kit as a basis. I think moving to all-grain next year and fermenting super hot will make the difference for me.

 

[drives_a_bike]

I brewed the Saison De Noel from Northern Brewer...Lucky for me, I got it with the 3726 before it was gone. If you buy the kit now, it comes with 3711.

Sept 28: made yeast starter and kept it around 75 or 80
Oct 1: brewed, pitched yeast around 70, put fermenter in my back room with a space heater on low (room temp was around 75 or 80)
Oct 2: VERY ACTIVE FERMENTATION! in less than 12 hours the lid blew off my fermenter. luckily I was in the next room and heard it happen.
Oct 7: ramped up the space heater and kept the room temp around 85 or 90 for the next 3 weeks (my wife was convinced I was going to burn the house down)
Oct 29: took a gravity reading, sitting at 1.006...didn't really have anything to base my overall abv on since I was 3 sheets to the wind when I got done brewing this guy and took my OG before aerating (dumb). racked to secondary...I'm not sure how long I'm going to let it sit there, I might just bottle it in a few days.

This is my first Saison, and this yeast has made it pretty fun! I'll come back to this thread once it's bottled and I can enjoy one.

 

[MDVDuber]

I think some bulk aging at a cooler temperature really helps this beer. I racked to secondary and bulk aged at cellar temps for about a month before I put it in the Keezer to carb up for Thanksgiving. I've got to say this beer was even better when the keg kicked in March than when it was freshly carbed.

Enjoy!

 

[Oldskewl]

Sorry to bump this thread from the dead! The good news is this yeast seems to be in year round production now! Wahooo!

My question is about the temp. It seems as though Wyeast has lowered the top range of recommended ferm temp. (70-84 F) The recipe I'm currently fermenting recommends ramping it up to 90 F and I am currently at 85 F. Just wondering if I should keep going?

 

[JeffLacoy]

Was given a pitch of this by my local brewery, told to pitch at 80-85, and let it run as high as 90. Grain bill was all pilsner with a small percentage of acid malt. Absolutely fantastic, this has become a staple brew for me. Such an easy brew day, and ferment is basically done in a few days.

I get light spice, light tartness, bubblegum/fruit from it. Love it.

 

[rhys333]

Was given a pitch of this by my local brewery, told to pitch at 80-85, and let it run as high as 90. Grain bill was all pilsner with a small percentage of acid malt. Absolutely fantastic, this has become a staple brew for me. Such an easy brew day, and ferment is basically done in a few days.

I get light spice, light tartness, bubblegum/fruit from it. Love it.

Sounds awesome. I think I'll be using the farmhouse strain tomorrow.

 

[specharka]

Just made a spelt saison with the de Blaugies strain and it turned out AMAZING. Pitched into 65F wort, allowed it to free rise and ramped to 83F over 5-7 days. Held it there for another 2 weeks until all observable fermentation signs had abated, then cold crashed and transferred.

Tons of lemon zest and clove character and a small amount of bubblegum coming through. Way easier to use than the DuPont strain and I prefer the ester bouquet more. Think this might have to be my house saison strain.

 

[rhys333]

Just made a spelt saison with the de Blaugies strain and it turned out AMAZING. Pitched into 65F wort, allowed it to free rise and ramped to 83F over 5-7 days. Held it there for another 2 weeks until all observable fermentation signs had abated, then cold crashed and transferred.

Tons of lemon zest and clove character and a small amount of bubblegum coming through. Way easier to use than the DuPont strain and I prefer the ester bouquet more. Think this might have to be my house saison strain.

I considered using spelt in mine this weekend, but stayed with wheat because I read that it has a very similar character to wheat or rye. What's your take on it?

 

[specharka]

I considered using spelt in mine this weekend, but stayed with wheat because I read that it has a very similar character to wheat or rye. What's your take on it?

Honestly I’m not sure I could tell the difference between spelt and wheat, and I used 30% in my grainbill. The malt had a nutty flavor and is more perceptibly sharp on the palate than wheat in the beer, but the overall effect is a bit muted with such a characterful yeast. Spelt definitely doesn’t have the spiciness of rye malt though. I would be really interested to see what a 100% spelt beer might taste like — unfortunately I think a good bit of its effect was lost to poor efficiency on this one.

I also don’t think malted spelt needs a protein rest to solubilize. I had a disaster brew with spelt and rye where the mash was so gummy I could barely squeeze a pint from, but the wort practically flew out of this mash with a 20 minute rest at 127F. Spelt is definitely more easy to brew with than rye, and probably wheat as well.

 

[rhys333]

Well, this farmhouse strain sure works fast. I pitched the yeast Sunday at 5pm (no starter), and it took off like a rocket inside of 24 hours. As of Tuesday morning it appears to be done. Wow.

@specharka thanks for the info.

 

[JohnDBrewer]

Well, this farmhouse strain sure works fast. I pitched the yeast Sunday at 5pm (no starter), and it took off like a rocket inside of 24 hours. As of Tuesday morning it appears to be done. Wow.

@specharka thanks for the info.

Split a batch last year with 3726 and 3724 Saison. 3726 on the left. Amazingly different. The Saison 3724 won gold and third best of show at the North Texas Limbo. Farmhouse never did much, but I remade both this year.

 

[rhys333]

Split a batch last year with 3726 and 3724 Saison. 3726 on the left. Amazingly different. The Saison 3724 won gold and third best of show at the North Texas Limbo. Farmhouse never did much, but I remade both this year.View attachment 576907

Which did you prefer, and how long did it take your 3726 batch to ferment? I've never had a fermentation go this fast or show as much activity. I barely had time to even ramp the temp up.

 

[JohnDBrewer]

.

Which did you prefer, and how long did it take your 3726 batch to ferment? I've never had a fermentation go this fast or show as much activity. I barely had time to even ramp the temp up.

The 3726 fermented out in about 2-3 days. The 3724 took a few more days. On both of them I controlled the temp for the first three days then let free raise to 75 for another 12 days. I enjoyed the Saison best even the second time.