Yeast Bay Saison Blend Stall

[trav77]

First time using YB Saison Blend here and it looks to have stalled out around 1.030. OG was 1.058. Mashed at 150. Nothing unusual about the grain bill - I've done slight variants of this beer a number of times. Well oxygenated and pitched an estimated 230 B cells of healthy yeast from a starter. Fermented it at 70 F with temp control for the past 4 days. Krausen fell yesterday and no movement since.

Anyone had the same experience? I've tried bumping the temp up a bit and stirring the yeast to get it re-started. TBD whether that helps.

Funny, I brew more saisons than any other style and most often use WL 565 which is notorious for stuck fermentations but never with any issues until now.

 

[tagz]

Strange. I haven't read about anyone having stalling issues with YB blends.

 

[trav77]

Yep I haven't heard of any either. I saw the airlock bubbling a bit again this morning so hopefully it's up and running again.

 

[trav77]

Well it looks like it has attenuated in the end. 1.012 now for 80% attenuation (which is in the middle of the published 78-84%). Hoping I can still knock off a couple more points and hit the upper end of that attenuation range.

Still a bit of an unusual fermentation pattern here that I haven't had with other saison yeasts. Got off to a quick and healthy start and dropped to 1.030 within a few days, then krausen drop and a very slow progression to FG after that. Maybe I should have just let it free rise?

In any case, looking OK now, FWIW.

 

[gometz]

Maybe try raising the temperature. 70 is pretty low for a saison.

 

[day_trippr]

Maybe try raising the temperature. 70 is pretty low for a saison.

^This^

Some Saison blends are notorious for this behavior.
Up the voltage!

Cheers!

 

[trav77]

Yes I did up it to 24 C which is the upper end of the YB recommended range. Yeah - generally with saisons I do up the temp (e.g. with WL565 I ramp up the ferment to 30 C over the first few days). Guess I was trying to keep it within recommended specs given the first time use for this blend.

Anyways, it's getting there now and tasting good. Next time I will let it free rise and hold the temp higher to see how that works.