My First Saison

[Salanis]

Saison is brewed and in the fermentor now. We'll see how it goes.

I added the sugar to my saison just as the ferment was starting to slow down.

So... a bit of sugar just as the ferment is starting to slow down. Do you boil it to simple syrup first? What exactly is the effect of this on the beer?

Also, you'd mentioned something about agitating the carboy partway through. When do you this? And why?

 

[ChshreCat]

So... a bit of sugar just as the ferment is starting to slow down. Do you boil it to simple syrup first? What exactly is the effect of this on the beer?

I dissolved it in a little bit of water, cooled it and poured it in. Just enough water to dissolve it in. Doesn't have to be as thick as a syrup. I think I used somewhere around 8 ounces.

The sugar helps dry the beer out. Saisons should be very light and dry and the sugar helps with that.

Also, you'd mentioned something about agitating the carboy partway through. When do you this? And why?

That's just if you get a stuck ferment. If you used 3711, you probably don't have to worry about this, but some other saison yeasts can get balky and stop working before they should. You can rouse the yeast by giving the fermenter a very gentle swirl. That will get some of the yeast on top of the cake up into suspension again and can help it finish out. Don't do it unless it's really necessary. Often just bumping the temp up a couple degrees can restart the works as well.

 

[Salanis]

I dissolved it in a little bit of water, cooled it and poured it in. Just enough water to dissolve it in. Doesn't have to be as thick as a syrup. I think I used somewhere around 8 ounces.

Okay, I mostly was asking that to see if you boiled to kill nasties in the water, which I presume you did.

That's just if you get a stuck ferment. If you used 3711, you probably don't have to worry about this, but some other saison yeasts can get balky and stop working before they should.

Yeah, I was only able to get my hands on WL568. I'll keep an eye on things. I've got a heat belt for it though, so it should be fine. I've also heard that WL568 isn't as prone to stalling as WL565.

 

[ChshreCat]

Okay, I mostly was asking that to see if you boiled to kill nasties in the water, which I presume you did.

Yeah. I don't actually boil the sugar. I get the water up to a good fast boil, dump in the sugar and then take it right off the heat and stir it in. I've done this with both sugar additions and bottling sugar and haven't had any issues.

Yeah, I was only able to get my hands on WL568. I'll keep an eye on things. I've got a heat belt for it though, so it should be fine. I've also heard that WL568 isn't as prone to stalling as WL565.

That's because it's a blend of yeasts. Saison yeast and a belgian ale yeast in the same vial. You don't get quite the same flavor as from a pure saison strain, but you don't get the finicky ferment that WL's saison yeast gives you.

 

[Homercidal]

I'll have to check my recipe. I am not sure I added any sugar. It's been a few weeks, so I might be boned now. Last time I tasted it seemed a bit dry, but not REAL dry. FG was not obtained yet either though.

 

[ChshreCat]

Between the lb of sugar and the Wyeast 3711, my saison went from 1.067 right down to 1.000. Dry as a freakin' bone!