New Danstar Belle Saison Dry Yeast?

[Sir-Hops-A-Lot]

Fellas,
I made the Saison recipe from Brewing Classic Styles and pitched Belle Saison.
The beer did not taste any good on its own. I mixed it with a batch of Belgian Wit with coriander and orange peel. The result was very good. Everyone enjoys it.

 

[nbird33]

I fermented in basement at around 70 F and it worked fine. I wonder if you got a bad pack?


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Going like crazy now. Not sure but seems fine now.

 

[Pilgarlic]

Fellas,
I made the Saison recipe from Brewing Classic Styles and pitched Belle Saison.
The beer did not taste any good on its own. I mixed it with a batch of Belgian Wit with coriander and orange peel. The result was very good. Everyone enjoys it.

Do you like saisons?

 

[Rev2010]

Planning on brewing a Saison with this same yeast this Sunday. Was going to brew it last Saturday but it rained. My only concern at the moment is our weather forecast is listing the high for the day at 84 degrees. At that temp I doubt the ground water will be cool enough running through my chiller to get the temp low enough. This past Sunday when I did my Pumpkin I got the temp down to 76 but after pitching put the fermenter in my kegerator to cool it down to the low 60's. That beer is still in there so I have to ferment where I usually do - front hallway. I see Northern lists this yeasts max fermenting temp at 77, but I can swear I've read elsewhere it's good up to 85 degrees. Can anyone chime in from experience on the max temp range for this yeast?


Rev.

 

[badlee]

Dude,I ferment this at 35c,I am not sure of the conversion to Farenheit,but it is a lot bloody warmer than 84!
Get it in there,the warmer the better

 

[Rev2010]

Dude,I ferment this at 35c,I am not sure of the conversion to Farenheit,but it is a lot bloody warmer than 84!
Get it in there,the warmer the better

Holy moly, you ferment this at 95F?? And it comes out great? If so well then I'm confident to go for it.


Rev.

 

[MikeInMKE]

I left mine to ferment on my kitchen counter while the A/C kept the house at 78F. After spending a couple of weeks in a cold keg on gas, it had too much sulfur odor to it, so I gently shook the keg and vented off gas until the sulfur was gone. Not sure what I would have done had I bottled it. And even then it took a few more weeks of just sitting in a cold keg before the funk level reduced from overwhelming to an interesting component of the beer's flavor.

 

[troy2000]

Used this yeast Sunday it had a sulfur smell when I rehydrated. It didn't seem to do anything after minutes pitched into a 1.073 wort. As of 36hrs haven't really seen anything. Checking hydrometer reading tonight. Is it possible I did something wrong?

I use Belle Saison regularly. It's been my experience that after you pitch it, you need to yank your hand back so the yeasties don't latch on and start munching on it along with the wort...

I'm exaggerating, of course. But this stuff has always been rock-solid reliable for me. Yours should've taken off in a matter of hours, so yes - something's wrong.

-Did you rehydrate per the instructions on the packet, paying attention to the recommended temperature?

-Was the temperature of your rehydrated yeast near the temperature of the wort when you pitched it, and was the wort in the proper temperature range for pitching?

-Was your yeast treated gently beforehand, instead of being exposed to extreme conditions while being shipped or stored? Was it somewhere this side of old and senile? Dry yeasts are pretty durable, but they aren't bullet-proof.

 

[sweetcell]

Planning on brewing a Saison with this same yeast this Sunday. Was going to brew it last Saturday but it rained. My only concern at the moment is our weather forecast is listing the high for the day at 84 degrees. At that temp I doubt the ground water will be cool enough running through my chiller to get the temp low enough.

suggestion: once you chill the beer as much as you can and get it in your fermentor, let it cool to ambient before pitching the yeast. use an ice bath (swamp cooler) to knock it down a few degrees.

pitching yeast warm then letting them cool isn't a great idea. yeast like stability, so get the wort to fermentation temp before pitching. if your sanitation practices are good, the wort will be fine for several hours. i've pitched the next morning with no issues.

 

[peterj]

Planning on brewing a Saison with this same yeast this Sunday. Was going to brew it last Saturday but it rained. My only concern at the moment is our weather forecast is listing the high for the day at 84 degrees. At that temp I doubt the ground water will be cool enough running through my chiller to get the temp low enough. This past Sunday when I did my Pumpkin I got the temp down to 76 but after pitching put the fermenter in my kegerator to cool it down to the low 60's. That beer is still in there so I have to ferment where I usually do - front hallway. I see Northern lists this yeasts max fermenting temp at 77, but I can swear I've read elsewhere it's good up to 85 degrees. Can anyone chime in from experience on the max temp range for this yeast?


Rev.

I'm with sweetcell. I would get it cooled to at or below fermentation temp before pitching.

If the Pumpkin beer has been fermenting since last Sunday it should be pretty much done with the initial part of fermentation by this Sunday so you could go ahead and pull it out and put the new wort in there to chill. The initial vigorous part of fermentation is when you need to keep it cool, after that it's fine to rise into the 70's. That will actually help it with attenuation and clean up.

But after you get the saison to pitching temp I would not keep it in the fridge. I would just let it go at ambient room temp.

 

[Rev2010]

I'm with sweetcell. I would get it cooled to at or below fermentation temp before pitching.

That interesting, but I have to ask... if dry yeast requires rehydrating at 80-90 degrees won't I have to also get that temp down a bit as well so that I don't pitch it into wort that is above 15 degrees temperature difference? That's why I figured it would be easier to pitch and cool it down to the fermenting temp I was shooting for. I rehydrated with something like 90 degree water and pitched into 79 degree wort. I put the fermenter in the kegerator and set it to 55. It took several hours to cool down to 65 then I set the temp to 62.

I used to always use liquid yeast, having only used dry about 4-5 times before. Been looking to use dry yeast a bit more often where I can get away not using a liquid yeast (like for my wheats I'll probably always be using Wyeast). But dry yeast is so much more convenient since you don't typically have to make starters nor do I have to worry as much about getting Wyeast packs with old dates or transporting in hot weather.

So for the Saison I'm not exactly sure what temp it will be fermenting at since it will be sitting at whatever ambient temp my hallway is at this time. My hallway is awesome for fermenting in fall and winter but we still have some warm days now. I'm guessing it will probably ferment around 75-80 total, counting for the extra warmth created by the yeast. That should be easy to cool down to with the chiller so I might not need to use the kegerator after all.


Rev.

 

[Sir-Hops-A-Lot]

Do you like saisons?

I do like Saisons. I am not sure if my negative experience with this yeast was due to the yeast flavour or my use of it.
I have used 3711, French Saison in a pilsner/saaz Smash and it is very tasty. Based on this very limited experience I would take 3711 over Belle Saison.

 

[m1batt1]

Holy moly, you ferment this at 95F?? And it comes out great? If so well then I'm confident to go for it.





Rev.

The last time I used this yeast I split a batch and after two days in upper sixties low 70s I moved half of it to my garage where the temperature was completely unpredictable. I guarantee it hit at least 90-95 degrees for hours at a time.

That being said that portion of the batch is quite tasty in my opinion so this yeast can easily handle the high temps.

 

[MikeInMKE]

That interesting, but I have to ask... if dry yeast requires rehydrating at 80-90 degrees won't I have to also get that temp down a bit as well so that I don't pitch it into wort that is above 15 degrees temperature difference?

You do, yes. Once it's been rehydrated at the specified temperature for the specified time, put the container it's in into a cold water bath, and stir it using a sanitized thermometer until it is very near the temperature of the wort (assuming the wort is already at pitching temperature).

This is the point to use a thief to pull a gravity sample. You can also pull a bit more wort and add it to your cup of rehydrated yeast, before you dump the yeast into the wort.

 

[Rev2010]

So I made my Belgian Saison yesterday, rehydrated this yeast exactly per instructions, brought the yeast temp down to within 4-5 degrees of the wort temp and pitched it. Wow, this stuff is wild like Hefeweizen yeast! It reeeally took off. Within 6 hours it was bubbling the airlock 2-3 times per second. This morning there's a nice brown yeast cake on top. Talk about a fast kickoff, fermenting away at 26C (78.8F).


Rev.

 

[chocotaco]

The beer I made with this yeast turned out really, really good.

I was "inspired" by Logsdon's Seizoen. I wasn't really attempting to clone it, but just thinking what I would do if I wanted to get a similar body and balance and flavor rather than trying to replicate what Logsdon does (which would probably be really hard). Anyway, this is what I did and I'm pretty happy with it, will make again. Only 1 hop (all whole leaf)

The recipe is called "Saisonco". I made it at work and got my coworkers involved. I work at a company called Blazonco, so Blazonco's saison should obviously be Saisonco.

7 lbs pilsner malt
2 lbs 2 row
2 lbs red wheat malt
1 lbs cara-pils
1 lbs honey malt

1/3 oz Belma FWH (13.3 IBU)
1 whirlfloc 15 min
1 oz Belma 10 min (12.4 IBU)
2 oz Belma whirlpool (20.7 IBU)
64 oz pear juice (store bought) after whirlpool (once you're down to ~180F)

2 packages of Belle Saison rehydrated (no aeration)

I hit 14.5 brix after the boil and somewhere around 1 brix after primary which put it at roughly 7.25%. However, I (thankfully) undershot my OG by 2 brix on the mash and boil. I say "thankfully" because I (and beersmith) drastically underestimated the attenuation power of this yeast. Hitting 14.5 brix, the ABV came out pretty much exactly where I wanted it.

Fermented in our server room which is climate controlled to 75F ambient, but no other temp controls. After 3 weeks, I brought it home and cold crashed it for way too long (like 2 months - hey I was busy - but at least it was crystal clear by the time I kegged it!)

Despite Beersmith's calculation of 20.7 IBU for the whirlpool addition, it is in no way too bitter for a saison to style. In fact, I am super stoked at how well this turned out for my first go at a saison and I give all the credit to Belle Saison.

I love that this yeast will make a tasty beer at any temperature, and it's going to be my go-to for any summertime brewing. This past year (since last winter) I've done a "green brewing" (meaning I don't want to pay for the equipment or energy for temp control, but positioning it as "green" sounds much cooler) system of Belle Saison in the summer/fall (we don't really have fall in SoCal - it's basically worse than summer during the day, and summer at night), SafLager in the winter, and West Coast Ale (BRY-97) in the spring. So far it's worked out great.

 

[MXDXD]

I finally brewed two with it.

1.053 to 1.001
1.048 to 1.003

I had no unfermentable whatsoever.

So yeah, the manufacturer itself (and thus BS) really appears to have underrated attenuation.

 

[skunkfunk]

Pitched Monday night. It is now Thursday night. No rehydration, 1 pack, 5.25 gallons of 1.071 wort at 80-86F. It's now at 1.004. 94% apparent attenuation... and counting?

 

[AndyMac81]

I've gotten down to 1.001 so give it another day or two.


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[tmendick]

Honestly I've used this yeast 4 times and ended above .999 once.

 

[Rev2010]

My Saison ended at 1.005.


Rev.

 

[thaymond]

Big fan of this yeast. I like it in some hoppy saisons. Makes the fruity flavors play nice. I'll definitely use it again

 

[sancycling]

Last night I bottled my first saison using this yeast. I was very surprised with my low FG 1.001 but for what I read this is very common.
I used some honey Pilsen Malt and Rye Malt. Mashed for 60min at 151F... So I was expecting low FG but I'm just surprised. OG 1.063.

Hydrometer sample was good, different but good.

 

[NunoAraujo]

Just bottled a rye saison with this yeast (75% pilsner, 19% rye malt, 6% table sugar, perle for bittering an styrian goldings for flavor and aroma). Fermented for around 4 weeks @ ~72ºF. The OG was 1.059 and the FG was 0.999 :rockin:
I'm not sure how to describe the hydrometer sample, but the nose was sort of fruity/sweet and maybe a bit spicy (I really need to take a quick course on beer tasting). The taste was again very fruity/spicy, with a nice light graininess in the back, and no noticeable alcohol, pretty impressive for a dry 8% ABV. I'll see in a few weeks how it went but all in all it looked promising.

 

[NunoAraujo]

Last night I bottled my first saison using this yeast. I was very surprised with my low FG 1.001 but for what I read this is very common.
I used some honey Pilsen Malt and Rye Malt. Mashed for 60min at 151F... So I was expecting low FG but I'm just surprised. OG 1.063.

Hydrometer sample was good, different but good.

Have you tasted it as of yet? What's it like?

 

[TronJunior]

Really impressed with this yeast. Ambient room temp here in the tropics is about 80-85f, and I wanted to see what this yeast would do. Exploded out of my fermentor the day after pitching.

Imperial dragonfruit saison finished at 1.000 in about a week and a half. Added 1lb of raw sugar 3 days into fermentation. Adjusted OG of 1.075. Secondary on fruit for another week and a half. Now bottle conditioning.

 

[badlee]

About to pitch this into my oaked lacto sour and then a blonde ale on coffee beans. Fermentation fridge is full of Vienna lager.

 

[doublebogey10]

So, I'm in the middle of brewing a hoppy American Amber right now and thinking about my next batch that I want to make. Keep coming back to saison.
With everyone getting sub-1.005 with this yeast, what happens if you mash high? Was thinking about saison recipe with a projected OG of like 1.055. Mash high at like 157 or 158 and then use this yeast.
Any thoughts?

 

[skunkfunk]

So, I'm in the middle of brewing a hoppy American Amber right now and thinking about my next batch that I want to make. Keep coming back to saison.
With everyone getting sub-1.005 with this yeast, what happens if you mash high? Was thinking about saison recipe with a projected OG of like 1.055. Mash high at like 157 or 158 and then use this yeast.
Any thoughts?

Yeast won't care. It eats everything. Don't worry, though, it leaves more body than you'd think.

 

[catdaddy66]

Getting ready to pitch (my first ever!) pack of this yeast into my saison that's cooling as we speak. Haven't taken an OG yet but I'm not worried as brew day went smoothly and hit all if my temps/volumes/times dead on.