Easy Saison

[TheBigD]

Cold Crashing my saison now SG of 1.055 got down to FG1.005 6.7%ABV so looking forward to kegging this and putting the rest into half dozen flensburger swing tops I emptied last week.Im going to age these for 3 months or so.

 

[Killer Brew]

After a week of going absolutely nuts in the fermenter I pulled down a tester today that went 1.011 making it already around 5.4% abv. And it is still going with the krausen having dropped out but continuing airlock activity. I like the taste but not sure what to compare it with. Went to Dan's yesterday and they don't stock any saisons so I'm not sure if what I'm tasting is true to style.

 

[TheBigD]

Usually high ABV beers can do with a bit of time to smooth them out so Im being patient with this one, lucky im on a bit of a health kick of late and cut right back on my drinking to commercial beer on week ends only, ive been busy churning out brews to fill my 6 kegs, so stocks will be at an all time high and time will be on my side as far as aging goes.

 

[Killer Brew]

Usually high ABV beers can do with a bit of time to smooth them out so Im being patient with this one, lucky im on a bit of a health kick of late and cut right back on my drinking to commercial beer on week ends only, ive been busy churning out brews to fill my 6 kegs, so stocks will be at an all time high and time will be on my side as far as aging goes.

Wait. You cut down your drinking plus limited yourself to commercial beer? Is it Lent already???

Good for your ageing as you say. The hardest lesson for me to now has been patience. My first ever beer is carbing up in the bottle now and is due to be "born" this Friday! Once I have a rolling inventory I'm hoping the whole patience thing becomes a little easier!

Are you saying that taste now is a little hard to judge so not to worry until it has reached maturity?

 

[Killer Brew]

This beer appears to have finalised at 1010. I had been expecting it to go lower based on my reading on this yeast. Has been there for 3 days now. Is there any chance it isn't done?

 

[Alex.Tas]

Do a forced ferment test. That alone will tell you what your yeast can do to your wort.

 

[Killer Brew]

Do a forced ferment test. That alone will tell you what your yeast can do to your wort.

Sorry but i still have the L plates on. What does this involve?

 

[stewy]

This beer appears to have finalised at 1010. I had been expecting it to go lower based on my reading on this yeast. Has been there for 3 days now. Is there any chance it isn't done?

I highly doubt it's finished at 1.010. I've used Belle Saison few times with extract recipes & it's always finished at 1.000. I ferment it at 26-28c. If I were you I would give the fermenter a gentle swirl for a minute & check again in a week

 

[Killer Brew]

Thanks, was thinking to try that. Has been fermenting at 22-24 degrees.

 

[Alex.Tas]

Google it for a better explanation but simply take a sample, roughly 1 cup and then add it to a sterile container. Shake the hell out of the sample as often as possible. Vent the pressure occasionally so it doesn't explode. Keep it in a warm spot, 20-30 degrees.

The idea is to get the yeast to ferment any left over fermentable sugar in the liquid. After a few days of constant shaking then recheck the gravity. The gravity you get will likely be the terminal gravity you can achieve with the current wort+yeast you have.
The elevated heat and the addition of air (dissolved into the wort by the constant shaking) will help the yeast attenuate to its max potential.

Once you know the potential of your wort+yeast you know what your fg shod be.

Sorry for the lack of detail but I'm writing on my phone. Google will give you a good run down of what the test is and why you should do it.

 

[Killer Brew]

So I tried a 3 day forced ferment and just tested and is still at 1010. Fermenter test check shows the same gravity and has now for almost a week. The brew itself is 2 weeks old today. What I can't work out is there is still airlock activity (around a gurgle per minute) so was really confident it was still dropping as I believed this yeast should. Any thoughts?

 

[MartinOC]

As you noted before, mate - PATIENCE!

Saisons can be frustrating as hell to ferment, but they're worth the wait.

 

[Killer Brew]

Thanks. So you think it could still have a way to go. I don't rack to a secondary so should i be worried about leaving it on the slurry for much over 2 weeks?

 

[skb]

My view is keep it simple stick it in the corner for 7 days the bugger the measure, keg and enjoy.... If you bottle this stately does not work so well as you may have beer bombs.

 

[Charst]

Thanks. So you think it could still have a way to go. I don't rack to a secondary so should i be worried about leaving it on the slurry for much over 2 weeks?

Dont shit yourself about the beer sitting on the yeast, you can go another two weeks or more easy.
If you've done the forced ferment test correctly it sounds like its done but its not harming it letting the beer sit for a bit.

Ive had a couple stall using the dupont strain and if I was impatient Id pitch some active wyeast 3711 french saison and let it finish the job.
If you dont want to do that, wait.

 

[TheBigD]

I just popped one of my saison swing tops as I type. first impressions much better than my citrusy first saison attempt and totally different to a standard coopers OS lager which was used as a base, you can definitely taste what the yeast brings to the table this time. Its still young at only 6 days after kegging and bottling and its going down nicely so im looking forward to tasting again after some more conditioning.

Edit:
There's no noticeable Kit Twang as the can used was nearing its use by date and you cant really tell it over 6% which will be fun.

 

[TheBigD]

Final thoughts! all though it has improved a lot and im drinking through it, I shant be making a saison again, two attempts and two average beers. I just prefer my other more session-able beers

 

[manticle]

Try it again in the summer and try one at about 3.5 - 5% abv.

 

[peekaboo_jones]

Yeah a more lighter Saison might work well.
Sorry to intrude... I'm thinking of making this more hoppy style:
Batch volume 21L
1x Thomas Coopers Pilsner can
400g dry wheat malt extract
300g dextrose
250g carapils
150g carawheat
Danstar Belle Saison dry yeast
25g Chinook @ 30 or 40 mins
15g Santinam @ 5 mins
10g Santinam @ flameout
10g Santinam dry hop for 24hrs prior to bottling