What would you brew?

[JosephN]

I have one fermentation chamber which has a lager in it right now. I'm heading to India in 8 days. I think I want to brew something this weekend that I can just leave out at room temp while we are gone. I know temp control is a very important part of making beer, and I always like to keep it in check, but this looks like I wouldn't be able to.

So what would you brew if you had to leave it in a house at 72F for 3 weeks totally unattended?

I was kind of leaning toward a saison, which normally I would have to crank the temp up higher as it ferments out. Then I thought maybe a hefe with one vial of yeast, stressing it and keeping it hotter than normal would give me the banana smack that I've been looking for, I think...

So what would you brew?

 

[m1k3]

I'd use the ferm chamber for the first few days before letting it go at room temp.
The sooner you brew the better... then just let it free rise up to 72F for 3 weeks.
If you do that any style can be brewed.

With the original plan,if your house is 72F... the beer could easily get to 77F+ during the first few days which is pretty warm. And who knows what the weather will really be like?

 

[zachattack]

I wouldn't do a hefe, but I like them a little more balanced. The French Saison yeast strain will do just fine at that temperature.

 

[JosephN]

M1k3, yeah I'm aware of the big temp difference from ambient to internal during primary. I have had decent success before by placing the fermentor in a tub full of room temp water, and that's about as good as I can do since I'm fermenting a lager at 51F right now.

Zachattack, I was thinking the saison might be the best option. I normally like to keep the temp lower in the beginning and I'm wondering what the difference would be with hitting higher temps from the start? I could do the swamp cooler thing for a few days until I leave and then let it free rise

 

[Mainer]

I don't use any temperature control, so for me it's saisons all summer.

 

[JosephN]

I don't use any temperature control, so for me it's saisons all summer.

Do you use the fermentor temp stickers to get an idea of what temp they are? I know it's not exact, but it should be in the ball park. So how do yours turn out and what yeast do you use?

 

[Mainer]

Do you use the fermentor temp stickers to get an idea of what temp they are? I know it's not exact, but it should be in the ball park. So how do yours turn out and what yeast do you use?

I do use a sticky thermometer. This will be my first summer brewing. I'm trying to do all seasonal brewing, so I brewed lagers all winter (my basement sits in the mid 40's-mid 50s all winter), ales and kolsches in the spring, and I'll do saisons all summer. I've read up on WYeast 3711 French Saison, and it seems that it's tolerant of high temperatures and of temperature fluctuation (with increased production of fruity esters the higher the temperature goes), so that's what I'm going to use.

That said, I live in Maine, so it's incredibly rare that the ambient temperature here will stay over 85 for 24 hours straight at any point. Even in the dog days of summer, temps almost always drop to at least the mid-70s overnight. In Tennessee, you'll likely have a very different experience.

In places where the temp is routinely up in the 90s, I've heard that WYeast 3724 Belgian Saison is more tolerant of those temps.

 

[Mainer]

According to their website, 3711 performs best between 65-77, and 3724 between 70-95.

 

[m00ps]

According to their website, 3711 performs best between 65-77, and 3724 between 70-95.

All the yeast manufacturers temperature recommendations are wildly inaccurate for most belgian strains.

I can guarantee you that both of those yeast perform their best into the 90s. I do with with every single one of my saison yeasts and not one has created bad flavors from going that high

I would note that I dont start that high. I start off around 70F, let it free rise for a day, then bump it into the 90s

 

[Mainer]

All the yeast manufacturers temperature recommendations are wildly inaccurate for most belgian strains.

I can guarantee you that both of those yeast perform their best into the 90s. I do with with every single one of my saison yeasts and not one has created bad flavors from going that high

I would note that I dont start that high. I start off around 70F, let it free rise for a day, then bump it into the 90s

But you agree that the 3711 is the better choice in a climate like mine, where I'm likely to sit in the 70s rather than the 90s, right? I mean, if I'm looking for that estery profile rather than something super-clean.

 

[m00ps]

But you agree that the 3711 is the better choice in a climate like mine, where I'm likely to sit in the 70s rather than the 90s, right? I mean, if I'm looking for that estery profile rather than something super-clean.

Yeah, 3711 will eat through anything at any temperature above 60F IME

 

[zachattack]

But you agree that the 3711 is the better choice in a climate like mine, where I'm likely to sit in the 70s rather than the 90s, right? I mean, if I'm looking for that estery profile rather than something super-clean.

I would say definitely. I've pitched and held 3711 at 75 and it's worked just fine. Great flavor and of course insane attenuation.

3724 often needs active heating into the 90s to finish.

If you have no temperature control, definitely go for 3711.

 

[JosephN]

I did pick up some 3711 and made a 1 gallon starter with it. Hopefully it will ferment quick and drop out even quicker.

Now I'm wondering about the recipe: here is what I'm looking at doing.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1464267502.404467.jpg

 

[Aristotelian]

Make sure you brew this one up ASAP because you will want a blow off tube through peak fermentation, then replace with an airlock before you leave. Recipe looks pretty good, but I would ditch the C15 (you will be getting color from the victory malt) and cut the carapils in half since you will be getting body from the oats as well.

Also saisons usually have a sugar component for a dryer profile. I would cut the pilsner down to 8.5 lb and replace with enough sugar to get your OG back to 1.059.

 

[JosephN]

I thought about cutting the oats back, but one thing I keep thinking about is that I'm gonna mash at 147-148F. This should help dry the beer out. The last time I made a recipe similar to this I mashed at 147F and it fermented out to 1.003 without adding sugar. oh and I won 2nd place (silver medal) in a competition where French and Belgian style ale's held 15% of the total entries. There are some changed, like adding .4# more of oats, adding any C15 at all, adding the victory (I used caravienne in the last batch), and I've upped the Pilsner by .70# (mainly to help get my numbers due to low efficiency with Pilsner malt here lately)