IPA with Saison Yeast - Opinions please

[thed163]

Hoping ending at 1.012 with this recipe was the right thing to do... It was there for multiple days but in reading, I now think maybe I should have aimed lower. 1.012 seems high for all posts and things I've read but it was there for like two weeks... Figured it was done. :/

 

[arnobg]

I just finished this same exact kit but I used Wyeast 1272 and finished at 1.012. Turned out great.

 

[thed163]

Thing is... the saison yeast is known to attenuate to like 1.004... sometimes lower.

I hope it came out great, it tasted great before putting it into the bottle... So that is pretty promising. Just hoping it doesn't continue fermenting in the bottle and BOTTLEBOMB me.

I figured it's extract, and wasn't sure if the super high attenuation was for AG or not.

 

[m00ps]

If ti stayed at 1.012 for multiple days at hot temperatures you should be good

 

[arnobg]

Yeah mine ended up tasting out of the bottle similar to going in. My only change for next time (at least if using the same yeast) is to hit a lower temperature. My chest freezer died within 24 hours of fermentation starting and I got up to 70-71F. I have since replaced it. Got a little more "peach" and "sweet" flavors than I prefer but still good overall.

I'm interested in how yours turns out so come back and share!

 

[thed163]

I shall certainly. It'll be a little different due to saison yeast... And the best part was, while it was hot (90 + temps during the day), the yeast loved that.
No need to worry about it getting too hot.

We'll see. I think it'll be funky, but peachy and citrusy. I dry hopped. I changed a bit of the recipe too... added mosaic, did flame outs where it called for like 10m additions, dry hopped with citra, mosaic, cascade, centennial... I kind of didn't follow much of the recipe at all now that I think of it :x

 

[N4teTheGreat]

I've been following this thread and was inspired to do something similar. My brother was in town and wanted to brew but the ambient temp in my condo is 70 - 80 most of the year, and October is warm in SF. So far so good, the bubbles out of my blow off smell hop-tacular.

-- Nathan

 

[thed163]

You'll want to get it higher. $12 aquarium heater from walMart was best investment. 80 degrees always, you can bet during fermentation you're 85+
What yeast did you use?
If I did it over, I'd have pitched 3711 to finish it out... But the best advice I got was pitch at 70, let it free rise up, keep it at 80 after. Swamp coolers can be swamp heaters!

 

[N4teTheGreat]

You'll want to get it higher. $12 aquarium heater from walMart was best investment. 80 degrees always, you can bet during fermentation you're 85+
What yeast did you use?
If I did it over, I'd have pitched 3711 to finish it out... But the best advice I got was pitch at 70, let it free rise up, keep it at 80 after. Swamp coolers can be swamp heaters!

I used Belle Saison, it was up a bubbling the morning after we pitched (pitched around 11pm). I swap cooled it for the first 12 hours and then let it warm up and now have it wearing a hoodie. It was warm to the touch when I checked on it last night and bubbling consistently with lots of swirling in the carboy and a nice kausen. It's been 77 - 80 in my condo ever since we pitched so I think temps are ok. I don't want to go TOO hot and get overly fruity.

-- Nathan

 

[Brew_G]

You'll want to get it higher. $12 aquarium heater from walMart was best investment. 80 degrees always, you can bet during fermentation you're 85+
What yeast did you use?
If I did it over, I'd have pitched 3711 to finish it out... But the best advice I got was pitch at 70, let it free rise up, keep it at 80 after. Swamp coolers can be swamp heaters!

If you have the fermenter in a water bath, then the temp of the water and the temp of the wort should be within a very small margin of each other. The only thing separating the wort from the water is the wall of the fermentation vessel, and while that can provide a modicum of insulation, it's a different situation than the temp of wort v. the temp of ambient air outside the fermenter.

 

[thed163]

If you have the fermenter in a water bath, then the temp of the water and the temp of the wort should be within a very small margin of each other. The only thing separating the wort from the water is the wall of the fermentation vessel, and while that can provide a modicum of insulation, it's a different situation than the temp of wort v. the temp of ambient air outside the fermenter.

Thank you, was misunderstood on that. Love this forum, so informative.


...nate, with 3724; too hot didn't exist. I'm not sure on temps of the belle but I think you're right that it's a lower threshold. You know better than I so keep on! I was impressed with the taste from the non carbonated at bottling time. Like you said, super fruity, little dry taste from the yeast.

I've been updating and I'll make sure to update upon drinking also. Good luck!

Plan to dry hop?

 

[N4teTheGreat]

Plan to dry hop?

This is only my second brew so I'm not quite ready for that yet. I'm hoping to leave it sitting in primary for 4 weeks or so (FG reading determining that of course) and then bottle. Belle can go as high as 90 but from what I read in a thread on here about that yeast, I might not get what I want flavorwise at the top of that temp range.

Of course the weather cooled down today so I may end up having to use a heater to get full attenuation. Luckily I'm not in a rush

-- Nathan

 

[thed163]

Patience and consistent warmth and you'll be good.

It always seems that cool down happens. The day after I started it, it dropped from like 90 to like 60 overnight... in comes the aquarium heater.

 

[thed163]

First taste today, assumed it'll be under carbed.
..only slightly, but tasted fantastic. Sips like a hoppy ipa, finishes like a saison.
Pretty hazy, smells citrus.
Very happy with this.

View attachment 1445218368648.jpg

 

[thed163]

Tonight... I popped a bottle. Over flow immediately. I'm over carbed at one week. I put in fridge out of panic for no bottle bombs.
I used calculator for ipa then for saison and then used lowest ipa or Belgian I forget and highest ipa... That must be where it went wrong.

Good idea on fridge? I'll research more now

 

[thed163]

God I hope I don't have gushers. The bottle I opened first foamed, but very slowly got to the top of the bottle after opening. The one last night immediately started overflowing, but not under a huge amount of pressure or anything. Just overflowed for like 10 seconds.

I threw them in the fridge, as I said. I think this will stop the fermentation. Really, it could be that fermentation didn't end (it was at 1.012 for 2 weeks with no changes), or that I over primed, or both.

Hoping this batch doesn't get wasted. It has been a hit with everyone that's tasted it.

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

Sounds like a gusher. Bummer. good call keeping it cold from here on out. My first go at belgian Quad turned out a gusher. I keep the bottles in my basement where it's cool, when I want one I put it in the fridge to get as much CO2 into the beer as possible, then crack the cap in the sink. It leaks for a while, then I crack again, and repeat like 10 times over the course of 10-30 minutes. PITA but it works without loosing all the beer.

I love to throw belgian saison yeast at all my worts. I just did a bit with about a gallon of porter, as well as a hoppy brown ale. Here's to hoping they turn out great!

 

[thed163]

Sounds like a gusher. Bummer. good call keeping it cold from here on out. My first go at belgian Quad turned out a gusher. I keep the bottles in my basement where it's cool, when I want one I put it in the fridge to get as much CO2 into the beer as possible, then crack the cap in the sink. It leaks for a while, then I crack again, and repeat like 10 times over the course of 10-30 minutes. PITA but it works without loosing all the beer.

I love to throw belgian saison yeast at all my worts. I just did a bit with about a gallon of porter, as well as a hoppy brown ale. Here's to hoping they turn out great!

Sounds like a gusher, huh? :/ oh man. Yeah, this isn't getting dumped, because it tates SO good... but at least it was only a 2.5 gal batch, bottled about 2 gal total.

 

[m00ps]

usually if it tastes fine (like no carbonic bite) they may not all be gushers. Maybe that one bottle was not entirely sanitized or the priming sugar wasnt mixed properly

 

[thed163]

usually if it tastes fine (like no carbonic bite) they may not all be gushers. Maybe that one bottle was not entirely sanitized or the priming sugar wasnt mixed properly

The first did it only a little. The second more so, but it sat for a day longer ... I'll try one tonight after fridging them.
And then I'll try another tonight, and only crack it little by little and let it hiss. I won't be recapping... I'm gonna d rink em all instead lol

 

[slym2none]

OK so the first account has 3 posts within 1 minute of each one on 10/9 and thats it. Next account has 4 posts within 1 minute of each one on 10/14. Both join dates are Oct 2015. Also did the same copy/paste thing on another thread

Maybe its just some weird dude, but id like to keep the forums as spam bot free as possible....

Quote their posts (while they are here, I reported them) - they have "hidden links" in them.

 

[thed163]

Quote their posts (while they are here, I reported them) - they have "hidden links" in them.

So weird... It didn't show on the app so I didn't catch it first time.

Robots that stay on topic pretty well and post relevant things?! scary.

 

[Brew_G]

So weird... It didn't show on the app so I didn't catch it first time.



Robots that stay on topic pretty well and post relevant things?! scary.

They just re-post what someone else has already posted.

 

[thed163]

They just re-post what someone else has already posted.

Ah.

Update, after fridge, no gusher on one I opened

 

[N4teTheGreat]

Ah.

Update, after fridge, no gusher on one I opened

Glad to hear that, guess the bottles just needed more time to soak up the carbonation? I'm about two to three weeks away from bottling myself, looks like the yeast wrapped up their work (been eight days) so now I'll just give them some time to clean up their mess and hope things clear up a bit.

-- Nathan

 

[thed163]

Glad to hear that, guess the bottles just needed more time to soak up the carbonation? I'm about two to three weeks away from bottling myself, looks like the yeast wrapped up their work (been eight days) so now I'll just give them some time to clean up their mess and hope things clear up a bit.

-- Nathan

Nice! Mine remained a bit of an orange color... Think pilsner meets the dark of typical extract... and it remained hazy.

I think if I brewed this again, I'd use all grain bill and I'd also use the Omega Labs Saisonstein or whatever it's called. Heard great things.

Did you take a gravity reading of yours? Also, I think 2 weeks is typical time, but with these yeasts... I think more time is better, given they sometimes stall.

 

[N4teTheGreat]

Did you take a gravity reading of yours? Also, I think 2 weeks is typical time, but with these yeasts... I think more time is better, given they sometimes stall.

I haven't taken an updated reading yet, but my OG reading after putting the wort in the fermentor was 1.072. My recipe didn't have a target OG or FG (forgot to ask the LHBS guy) but from what I searched this seems fairly good for a Belgian IIPA. I'm shooting for around 8% abv so hoping for around 1.010 or less for my FG. Given my laissez faire temp control I think I'll give it a few more weeks before I start taking readings.

 

[thed163]

Makes sense! Id say take a reading a week before you think it's done and make sure it sits there at least a week. I think maybe mine had more to go

 

[N4teTheGreat]

Agreed, based on your experience I'll definitely err on the conservative side for readings / bottling.

 

[N4teTheGreat]

First off, apologies if I shouldn't be bumping this old thread.

Finally bottled my attempt this past weekend. OG of 1.072 FG of 1.008 for a nice 8.4% abv beer. I'm pretty happy with the attenuation.

Belle Saison lives up to it's rep as not flocculating very well. I used cut a piece of a grain bag to cover the bottom of the auto-siphon but lost a bit more beer than I'd like as I was still getting cloudy pulls when I got near the trub.

Ended up with a mere 20 count of 22oz bottles along with 4 12oz bottles (less beer lost when I check for carbonation). I'll get better at my volumes eventually.

Tasted it and it's definitely a belgian, fruity flavors from the yeast are right there, nice hop flavor and aroma. I noted a slight metallic aftertaste, hops, green beer, extract tang, I'm not sure.

Had a few people try it as we had guests while bottling and they (including the S/O who's not a huge beer fan) said it tastes good so maybe I'm just overly critical of my own stuff.

Gonna bottle condition for 3 - 4 weeks and see how it tastes.

-- Nathan