Help with my first Saison

[robsawyer]

Hello all, new to brewing and new to this great site. I brewed my first Saison this past weekend (Sunday afternoon). Original Gravity was about 1.052 or so. I took a reading today and was down to about 1.02. My NOOB questions are:
1) Is there a certain gravity reading I should shoot for before I move to secondary?

2) Is there a point when I should kill off the yeast with a camden tablet or should I just let the funky saison yeast keep doing what its doing...?


Any other tips would be greatly appriciated! Cheers

 

[tagz]

1. You can head over to tastybrew.com, punch in your ingredients, and it will give you a rough final gravity. You can look up the attenuation of your yeast if you want more exact numbers. But, you definitely want the SG to stabilize, so make sure you take multiple readings before bottling.

2. Unless your kegging, you're going to want the yeast to remain active so you can prime (carb) the beer. So, avoid the camden tablet.

Edit: Oh and welcome to the site!

 

[robsawyer]

Thanks for the help!

 

[Jamo99]

What temperature are you fermenting at? You'll want to incrementally ramp up the temp to the low to mid 80s so that the yeast can keep on doing their job. Saisons should finish pretty dry, typically below 1.012. That doesn't mean sweeter will be bad, but you want to bring it down a bit from 1.02

 

[robsawyer]

What temperature are you fermenting at? You'll want to incrementally ramp up the temp to the low to mid 80s so that the yeast can keep on doing their job. Saisons should finish pretty dry, typically below 1.012. That doesn't mean sweeter will be bad, but you want to bring it down a bit from 1.02

right now its sitting in a closet at about 75 degrees. I can move to an area closer to 80 if that will help the yeast keep doing what it does!


Thanks!

 

[EinGutesBier]

Rob, if you're using Wyeast Saison yeast, I'd recommend 83-85 degrees, since that's roughly the median temp of the 70-95 degree range.

 

[robsawyer]

Rob, if you're using Wyeast Saison yeast, I'd recommend 83-85 degrees, since that's roughly the median temp of the 70-95 degree range.

I am using Wyeast Saison, and I will be moving the beer as soon as I get home!


Thanks!

 

[Short Drive]

I am using Wyeast Saison, and I will be moving the beer as soon as I get home!

I read this elsewhere.

Ryanh1801:
Just something new that I just learned. Wyeast people actually suggest you start fermentation temps off at 85+ with their strain.

“If you cannot run your ferment at 90 with the Dupont strain, then plan on a very long and drawn out primary (weeks to a couple of months). If you can ferment at 90, then it will finish (and finish very complete) within days. A 75 degree F ferment could take a couple of months.

The key is to ferment at 90 from the start. Starting cool and then having to heat the brew later on to keep the ferment from slowing can have adverse effects on the beer. Prolonged fermentation at high temps can lead to oxidation and off flavors.

Jess Caudill
Brewer/Microbiologist
Wyeast Laboratories

 

[denverd1]

I'm also brewing a saison. measured 1.04 when I transferred it to the secondary after a week. Sittin at 75* in the house. Will it seriously take a couple months?