Lazy Wyeast Belgian Saison (3724)

[TheEvilPenguin]

I started fermenting a high-gravity wort with Wyeast Belgian Saison (3724) on Thursday night. Original Refractometer reading was 18.5 Brix (~1.073) and by Friday night it had dropped to 14 Brix (~1.043).
Since then it has hovered at 14 Brix and there doesn't seem to be any activity on the surface of the beer - all the bubbles have dissapeared and the airlock isn't bubbling. The ferment temperature started at 28C and rose to 30C with occational peaks at about 32C.

I've been swirling the fermenter to try to stir up the yeast, and last night sterilized a long spoon and stirred things up. There's still no activity this morning. things don't smell or taste off at all - just fairly sweet still.

Can anyone suggest anything I can do to wake my yeast up? Or should I try to cool it down and pitch a different yeast?

Thanks

 

[j1gsaw]

I have read that Belgian Saison yeast is known to stall for a while, around the 1030 or so mark??, it does take some time to finish right out.
I havent used that yeast personally, but surely someone on here will help.

 

[vykuza]

Wyeast 3724 is notorious for being a slow finisher. It'll churn through have the sugars in in two days, then spend the next four weeks finishing up. It's not unusual at all, and expect a long ferment. Keep it warm, no need to stir it any more and monitor it once a week - you'll see it moving.

 

[TheEvilPenguin]

Thanks for the reassurance.

What sort of period would you suggest of getting stable gravity readings before I bottle? Or is there some way I can figure out what my FG will be in advance? My refractomoter is a pretty cheap one so I'm not too confident in its precision and if I keep doing hydrometer readings I'll end up with two bottles from the batch

Cheers

 

[Melthar]

I'd suggest upping the temps, this yeast tends to love >30degrees. I started a similar batch recently (1068 SG) at 32-34degrees, Started Friday night and it was down to 1012 by Sunday, temp has dropped to 28 degrees but it still seemed to be ticking along slowly last night.

 

[TheEvilPenguin]

I'd picked this yeast because it's listed fermentation temps are pretty close to ambient temperature in my part of the country - I'm not sure if my girlfriend would understand me plugging in my heating belt during summer
I'll refrain from cooling it if things heat up though

 

[Coach_R]

Don't mean to hijack this thread but i've been reading alot about this Saison on this forum and i don't think i have quite wrapped my head around what type of beer this is?

is it a wheat beer? and what type of hops, grains and type of goo can should i use to produce a "decent" beer. the main reason as i am guessing most others are is that since i have just started brewing i dont yet have any sort of temp control yet, and this sounds like a great way to get around this!!!

also can this yeast just be used in regular brews (pale, bitter etc.) to just plain cheat or would the flavours and so forth not wotk out??

 

[DUANNE]

i must have got lucky with this yeast . i pitched 9 days ago at 1056 and is already down to 1011.i started at 20 for two days then raised it to 28 30ish. now im worried that it may not go further but after all the stories on this forum im willing to wait aweek or two to see if it moves.

 

[chadjaja]

I"m still trying to think of ways to keep mine warm, a few more hot days to come but mine is down to 25 degrees and crawling along :-( Into its third week now and I'll prob give it 5 weeks I'd say. Might resort to a pop up cooler with some hot water bottles in it and see how I go. Last measurement for mew was around the 1018 mark.

 

[TheEvilPenguin]

Don't mean to hijack this thread but i've been reading alot about this Saison on this forum and i don't think i have quite wrapped my head around what type of beer this is?

is it a wheat beer? and what type of hops, grains and type of goo can should i use to produce a "decent" beer. the main reason as i am guessing most others are is that since i have just started brewing i dont yet have any sort of temp control yet, and this sounds like a great way to get around this!!!

also can this yeast just be used in regular brews (pale, bitter etc.) to just plain cheat or would the flavours and so forth not wotk out??

I'm a bit of a newbie too, but from what I understand a Saison can vary a lot, and while a lot of recipes I've seen contain some wheat I don't think it's mandatory. I think what makes it a Saison is the different compounds, and so flavours, that the yeast produces. I've read somewhere that it's more like a wine yeast than traditional beer yeasts (can someone with half a clue confirm this?).

I found the wikipedia article sort of helpful.

Other than that, I'll let you know what it tastes like in about 12 to 14 weeks.

 

[Melthar]

Don't mean to hijack this thread but i've been reading alot about this Saison on this forum and i don't think i have quite wrapped my head around what type of beer this is?

is it a wheat beer? and what type of hops, grains and type of goo can should i use to produce a "decent" beer. the main reason as i am guessing most others are is that since i have just started brewing i dont yet have any sort of temp control yet, and this sounds like a great way to get around this!!!

also can this yeast just be used in regular brews (pale, bitter etc.) to just plain cheat or would the flavours and so forth not wotk out??

So far (from the fermenter) and my experience with commercial varieties, the taste is quite different to any of my pale ales. The yeast itself puts out some interesting flavours, so whilst it could make a tasty beer.. it wouldn't really fit any of those styles in the classic sense.

As for from kit.. Probably 2 lightly hopped cans (the cerveza..or blonde maybe) or one + one unhopped malt can, and a teabag of some Pommy/Euro hops for 15 minutes would give you a reasonable approximation. Most recipes are mostly pils/pale malt with minimal bittering, so this approach could be a good starting point.


As for the yeast, mine seems to have shot through from 1068->1010 in 3-4 days (32-34 degrees) and is now sitting at 1010 on 28degrees with no visible activity.. Shall take another reading tomorrow night, and probably rack to secondary for another week and give the hot water bottles a shot before I make a call to bottle it.. From all I've read about this yeast, it seems like this would be too soon..

 

[winkle]

I put down a saison using this yeast 9 days ago and its down to 1.006 from 1.058 :blink: .
Not complaining mind you, but I was ready for a long haul. The yeast was from a washed/stored slurry and that batch took weeks. I'll reuse this slurry in another saison instead of the usual 3711 with a kilo of acerola "cherries" dumped in after high krausen, should be a top summer drop with some aging.

 

[Tanga]

Sounds like an interesting Yeast. I will have to give this a go some time. Though I might wait until I have my brought my second fermenter in since this looks like it might take over a fermenter for quite some time. Also may need some secondary fermenter time =).

I'd love to see your recipe winkle.

 

[chadjaja]

I had mine in primary for about 4 and a half weeks and it got down to 1007 from memory. Looking forward to summer and cranking out a few.

 

[brett mccluskey]

I had mine in primary for about 4 and a half weeks and it got down to 1007 from memory. Looking forward to summer and cranking out a few.

If you're getting that far down in gravity in that time,then say a thanks to the deity of your choice :icon_cheers: It's always slowed right down ,at about 1030,for me.I use a 1056 starter ,after the first 4/5 days to finish it off.Much quicker,and easier IMHO :kooi:

 

[DUANNE]

just drinking a saison made with this yeast now.started at 1055 got down to 10 30 in 2 days and stopped and took another 5 weeks to hit 1007 all the time sitting at 30 degrees. love the yeast but god it can be frustrating, last year it hit terminal in two weeks.already got the next one sitting in the cube ready to go,gonna split 5 litres and ferment with straight brett c and the other 15 or so with the 3724.