Looking for advice on using a belgian yeast at 55-60 degrees

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madmikem

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Does anyone know of a good belgian yeast strain that like temps between 55-60 degrees? This is my current temp in my garage and I am preparing to brew a dubble,and I love the french saison yeast but am unsure what it will taste like at these temps.Thanks Mad Mike
 
These temps will tend to mute any real 'belgian' flavors the yeasts will provide. Belgian yeast strains are generally allowed to get to fairly high temperatures. You could certainly go as low as 65 or so ambient temperature, and count on the yeast activity to bring it within range, but I'm not sure if I would go any lower. 55-60 is more Scottish or California Lager yeast territory.

You could look into making Biere de Garde; these beers are often fermented with ale yeasts at low temperatures, or lager yeast at high temperatures (relative to what's normal for these strains).
 
A number of the Belgian strains will ferment in the high 50s, but will ferment fairly clean and you will not get the Belgian flavors I think you are looking for. Stick with APAs, and wait until Summer for the Saisons.
 
I just did a APA with Belgian yeast and fermented it at 68. I would say that that is still too cool for the yeast. Its nots as fruity as you would like, the phenolics arent really there. It's just kind of clovey-ish and not where I would like it. You will want your Dubbel to taste like a Belgian beer, so just wait to make it until it warms up
 
This is kind of the tricky thing about Belgian beers. They need to be fermented preferably in the high 70's in most cases, but then they need to be cold conditioned at 30-50*F after that. Without a spare fridge or something, probably the best way to do this is to make a closet or small room fairly warm in the winter, then after primary move it to a cold place. Though if I were to just choose one of the temps to hit, I would go with a warm fermentation and skip the cold conditioning. Not ideal, but better than cool fermentation, even with cold conditioning.
 
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