Saison questions

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Pillsburyjoboy

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I recently took my first stab with brewing a saison. I had a near perfect brew session (minus the being sprayed by a skunk as I dropped the wort chiller) and sat the fermenter near the pellet stove to maintain temp in the upper 70's. Not perfect temp control but decent. Tasted as I racked to secondary and had some fairly strong banana. Is this due to too low temps? Not starting low and raising higher or something else.
I would like to take a second stab but stove is off due to warmer weather. I need a heating wrap. Any suggestions on that too? Anything to avoid especially.

Many thanks.
Pills
 
Got to your local pet store and get a reptile hearing cord and wrap it around your FV. You will also need to get one of the cheap timer that control you outlet to plug it in to dial in the temp.
 
if your temp was constant, it's probably a result of starting too high. I usually start at 70 and raise to 90 over 2 weeks. If the stove was on/off every day/evening then this could be the result of yeast stress due to large temp swings.

You could make a dual-outlet STC1000 setup if your handy with wiring for like $25, or the new inkbirds are like $35 and do the same thing. Combine that with a heat wrap for your carboy, put the carboy someplace under your ideal ferm temp and you can get great temperature control. Even though I have two chambers I still used this method a few times this winter in my workshop, just rely on ambient for cooling and STC1000 controlled fermwrap for heating. A burlap sack wrapped around the whole schebang helped hold the heat a bit, worked great and made some good beers.
 
I use a rope tub (~$8 at lowes) and a 150w aquarium heater (~$16 amazon). Fill with water and it can heat the fermenter up to 90F. If you got a higher wattage, you could probably go higher
 
The banana is an effect of temperature and yeast strain. Typically banana comes from starting too high. The good news - banana will mellow over time. The better news - it doesn't taste bad. Some styles (hefe) call for banana-like flavor.
 
I used yeast captured from saison DuPont. No additional yeast. It finished at 1.004. I feel good about that but uncertain of the banana flavor.

I appreciate all the comments and support.

It's in secondary now. If banana flavors mellow over time should I leave it in the secondary longer? If so should I put it in my basement where it's colder?

Thanks again!
Pills
 
Also the stove was on everyday delivering a relatively steady temp. I would shut it off during the day and start at night- it ran constantly. I have shut it off the past few days, but this is since racking and sampling.

Thanks again,
Pills
 
So will banana flavors lessen with time. Should I leave it at room temp ~65? Or move to the basement where it's colder?
 
Fermenting with bottle dregs is not always straight forward as yeasts other than the primary may be us d for bottle conditioning. Try you recipe again and use Wyeast 3724 (DuPont). Make sure you use yeast nutrient and plenty of O2 as DuPont tends to stall around 3 days. If it does, don't worry, be patient and let it stay on the yeast 2 weeks, it will finish out. Let the temp rise on its own, into the 90s is fine. Happy brewing....
 
I am going to try again, I'll post the yeast later as i forget the strain. My kitchen is currently in the mid 60's which is too low. I am going to try out the aquarium heater approach as suggested. In doing so should I let it get started on its own and then ramp up heat after two days or so? Thanks
 
Pillsburyjoboy said:
I am going to try again, I'll post the yeast later as i forget the strain. My kitchen is currently in the mid 60's which is too low. I am going to try out the aquarium heater approach as suggested. In doing so should I let it get started on its own and then ramp up heat after two days or so? Thanks
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's what I usually do. Pitch mid 60s, let free rise for 36-48hrs, straight to warmed aquarium heater thing thats set to about 90F
 
Saisons I pitch low (62-65) and let it free ride to whatever it is in the room I am fermenting. I stopped caring about ferm temps on saisons (and sometimes belgians) and have since had better end products IMO. I use 3711 and Belle Saison dry yeast and prefer 3711.
 
Much like 30bones, I pitch at 65-68 and let it free rise into the upper 70s. 3711 (French Saison) only needs 78-82 IMHO. Belle Saison only about 78 max. DuPont, on the other hand can benefit by temps up into mid 90s. If you have a room that stays in the mid to upper 60s just pitch it and let it go on its own.
 
Also recommend reading Farmhouse Ales. Lots of good info...

image.jpg
 
My first saison has been in secondary for a little over a week now in the mid 60's. Should I bother ramping up temp at this point of is there benefit to doing so!

I plan to be better with temp on attempt #2. I have the thermometer ready to go.
 
I did my first saison two brews ago. I just brew IPAs. Didn't have 3711 at lhbs so I got 3724. Major difference. Took about 4 weeks. Started about 70 and then I read more about and ramped to 85 then 90. Took forever. First taste was very tart wasn't my thing. Kept the yeast and thought of how I wont end up using it. A week or couple later and I love that beer. Great beer and definitely taste like a good saison. I just three recipe together but if you keep it simpl and let the yeast do its thing you get what your looking for.
 

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