First Saison Attempt... Best Temp Solution?

[bigdawg86]

I purchased the Norsk Gardshus Ale which includes Yeast Bay "Sigmund's Voss Kveik" yeast... The instructions state it must be fermented at 80-100° which is pretty toasty. :cross:

I live in SoCal and my garage hits that no problem currently, but I do not want the temperature fluctuation (and possible over temps) that would come with just letting it rip in the garage.

I have a keezer which I have been using as a fermentation chamber, but want to figure out the best way to hold the higher than usual fermentation temperatures. Any suggestions would be great. I already have the Inkbird temp controller.

 

[soccerdad]

I can't recall where my saison standard came from .. start at 72° and let rise based on room temp and yeast energy. Starting at 80 seems odd to me but will certainly bring out yeast character and esters.

 

[njohnsoncs]

I just brewed a Saison and have been keeping it at 72 F. I used Imperial Napoleon yeast which has a range of 65-78F so I'm right in the middle. I'm going to let it raise to as much as 76 F on its own.

But it all depends on your yeast.

 

[bigdawg86]

I can't recall where my saison standard came from .. start at 72° and let rise based on room temp and yeast energy. Starting at 80 seems odd to me but will certainly bring out yeast character and esters.

I probably will probably pitch at 72-74°, but not sure if to let fermentation rise on its own then hold, or to crank it from there.

The 80-100 window to me sounds like a 90° fermentation would work... no chance of over or under temp. I just don't know if a carboy ferm wrap would provide enough juice or have to go to something more robust to keep the temp in the desired range.

Here is a link to the yeast I am using.

http://www.theyeastbay.com/brewers-yeast-products/sigmunds-voss-kveik

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

i use inland island farmhouse for years now, I start at 72 and ramp to 95 over the first 7 days.

 

[troglodytes]

For me, I use WY3711. I start at 65 and slowly ramp to about 72 until finished. I still have a great amount of character. I think for some strains the higher temps help finish up fermentation, but as long as your ramping upward, you don't need to go really high on temp to get good character.

 

[mirthfuldragon]

I have a keezer which I have been using as a fermentation chamber, but want to figure out the best way to hold the higher than usual fermentation temperatures. Any suggestions would be great. I already have the Inkbird temp controller.

-Light bulb in a paint can + small fan in keezer - haven't used it but the theory is sound
-Ceramic heat emitter + small fan in keezer - I bought a heat emitter but haven't set it up yet
-Aquarium heater + tub of water + small cheap aquarium powerhead to re-circulate
-Fermwrap or similar - haven't used them, but the theory is sound.

The aquarium heater is the one I am going to move forward with for belgians and saisons. I bought a 100w, which maxes at 88° and is good for a 100g tank - so it is probably overkill. I haven't used it yet, but the theory is sound and there seems to be less risk of melting something than others. I may set up the ceramic heat emitter in one of my mini-fridges.

I fermented my last saison in the guest bedroom, where I have the AC ducts blocked off since we do not use it right now. Temp was probably around 75-77, and the saison came out nice on Omega's Saisonstein yeast (FG 1.000 - yeah, it's dry as a bone). YMMV.

 

[bigdawg86]

I think I will go with the reptile ceramic heat emitter. I like how it doesn't emit any light and its somewhat of a gentle omnidirectional heat. I used them before to heat dog house and they worked well. I already have some AC Infinity fans in the fermenkeezer to ensure even heat distribution.

 

[brews2gf]

I think I will go with the reptile ceramic heat emitter. I like how it doesn't emit any light and its somewhat of a gentle omnidirectional heat. I used them before to heat dog house and they worked well. I already have some AC Infinity fans in the fermenkeezer to ensure even heat distribution.

I’m in a similar situation and trying to figure out what to buy. Did this option work out to bring your chamber up to ~90degF?

 

[troglodytes]

It works perfectly for me. I've done about 35 batches in my chamber now with 10 of them being Belgians or saisons. I was originally using a 100 watt emitter with fans in my chamber and it was causing too much temp over shoot (the emitter would retain too much heat even after turning off) and making the freezer compressor kick on too often. I've since switched it out for a cheaper 60 watt heat emitter and it has worked perfect. My fermentation chamber is in the basement that stays between 50 and 55F year round and I generally ramp up my saisons from 68F to the mid 80s at a rate of 2 degrees per day after day 3 and I have never struggled to maintain the higher temps. In fact when ramping up to the higher temps, once the bulk of fermentation is over, the heat emitter usually only kicks on for a couple minutes every half hour and my temps never drop more than 0.3C (my setting on the STC-1000) so no chance of yeast stall out. My yeast character for Belgians and saisons have really been on point for the past two years with this setup, and I have yet to have batch not fully attenuate.

Edit: You know its funny, I'm looking back through this thread and see that I commented in the past. I forgot just last year I was only raising my temps into the 70s. I can say that at least with the WY3711 and WLP530 strains I used in my last batches, when ramped into the 80s the yeast character is a bit more pronounced, although I don't think going up to 90 is necessary.

 

[brews2gf]

Awesome, thanks for the reply! Glad to hear it worked out w the smaller emitter. I’m putting my chamber together for my first saison and want to make sure I can crank it as needed. Cheers!

 

[bigdawg86]

Did this option work out to bring your chamber up to ~90degF?

Yes, but for some reason my GFI outlet kept tripping when using the reptile heater. I settled with a seedling heat mat wrapped around the bucket with reflectex insulation. Held even 100 degrees without any problem.

 

[Saboral]

I did my first saison this past Saturday. I actually spent last week building a BrewPi controller for the fermentation chamber. I bought this little heater to go with it.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00I4UVGHO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I have realized over the last day or so that I started way too low at ~65 for this yeast. I have been ramping up since Saturday and am currently at 75. I just went ahead and set the BrewPi to ramp to 80 over the next 5 days. Then I will raise from 80 to 85 in the 7-14 day window to make sure it finishes up. I think I'll pull a sample for SG measurement at 7 days.