Temp control for fruit saison

[berndawg84]

So I'm just making my first fruit beer, a blackberry saison. I made a 5 gallon batch and racked half to another carboy and added thawed blackberries. Should I be doing any kind of temp control for it? The whole batch was in primary for almost a month and is completely fermented out at this point. I was fermenting it at 73 F. Right now, I just have the carboy with the fruit sitting at ambient temp, which is about 65 F. I'm not sure if I should ramp the temperature on it, or just let it sit. If I do do temp control, should I just ferment it at the temperature I did for the base beer (73-74F)? I wonder if I get it too warm that could create weird flavors with the fruit. Never made a fruit beer before, so interested in any tips. Thanks.

 

[GaBrewZoo]

You really need the temp control at the beginning of fermentation. I start my saison at 64 for the first 3 or 4 days, and then as it slows down I let it ramp up. Read experimentalbrewing.com. Drew Beachum has a lot of info on saisons.

 

[berndawg84]

Right...at this point it's already been fermented. My understanding is that it'll "re-ferment" now that I've added the fruit. I plan on checking the flavor every 2-3 days, but I imagine I won't be keeping it on the fruit for more than a week or so. Do I still need to do the traditional ramp up in temp for saisons?

 

[GaBrewZoo]

You could raise the temp, if it were me, I would let it be and let it rise on its own. I found that the warmer temps gives a little more of the funky farmhouse flavors. Maybe put in a warmer place.

It will referment, I did a saison last month and my volume was a little over. After I filled the keg I had about 3/4 gallon left over. Put it in a one gallon carboy and put in a half of a cucumber as an experiment. After two days tasted it and had too much cuke. I filled five flip top bottles that I was going to blend in the keg to tone down the flavor. We went on vacation for a week and when we got back, I went to blend some in a glass and when I opened the bottle, there was a very loud pop, and the beer was highly carbonated. Just from the cucumbers.

Definitely check frequently for flavor from the fruit. It can go from almost there to too much real quick. It's nice to have some plain in case the fruit gets too overpowering.

 

[filthyastronaut]

I'd just let it do its thing. I'm doubtful that there will be much of a change in the ester character from just the fruit, especially if you already fermented it above 70.

 

[berndawg84]

Thanks everybody. That was what I was curious about. Much appreciated. I will just let it ride. It's been 48 hours and it already has good blackberry flavor but I'll let it go another couple days.