Saisons and Temp Control

[wintermute2]

I'm planning my first Saison (recipe TBD) and was wondering how critical stable temperatures are for the style. I'll be using Wyeast 3724 (I know it's difficult, but the LHBS had it) and be storing the primary somewhere on the second or third floor of my house (farmhouse built in 1812 - gets hella warm in the summer) where I can probably expect daytime temps in the 80's, sometimes close to 90, with nighttime swings down to the 70's, maybe even the 60's.

Should I even bother? will the temp swings stall out fermentation on this difficult yeast strain? Will it cause off flavors?

 

[GuldTuborg]

Those are your inside temps? Ideally, you'd want to get this somewhere warm and stable in temperature. Temperature drops of 20-30 degrees are not going to be good for the beer. Yes, I know the beer itself won't swing like that if the cycles are every 12 hours, but if I were you, I'd be looking for the most stable place in the house. Maybe 2nd floor, inside closet? If you can keep it in the upper 70s, it should finish out eventually, though it may take a while.

 

[BadNewsBrewery]

Your other option is to try and insulate the fermenter to mellow out the swings. Wrap it in blankets, build a box for it - anything you can do to add more thermal mass around the fermenter will slow the changes and give you a more stable fermentation temperature.

 

[beergolf]

Put the fermenter in a big tub of water. The mass of the water will help keep the temp more stable. Another option is to add an aquarium heater. That way if it starts to cool the heater will kick in until it warm up during the daytime.

3724 likes it warm.

 

[tgmartin000]

I'd try to start it in the mid 60's, raise it about 2 degrees per day until most of the fermentation is complete, then free rise it to the 80s or 90s. I used 3711 on the rye saison and fermented it at 72, free rising to 80. It was not good. Tons of phenolics.

 

[zacster]

I did a batch with 3724 last summer when we had outside temps in the mid 90s. The stick on thermometer on my carboy didn't go up high enough to know where it was. It fermented down to 1.008. It also tasted just like a Dupont. I used no temperature control at all, but it was a hot spell so I didn't get much fluctuation.