Tired Of Waiting

[pmolou]

i'v had a saison in the fermentor for a while now but it cant seem to get past 1.02 even though i've raised the temp up to 28celcius which i have to do everyday as its so cold. I've got a couple of brews lined up that i want to do soon (i only have one fermentor) and was wondering if i pitch a us-56 yeast if it will finish off the fermentation completly or is there a chance that after i bottle the saison yeast could keep fermenting due to its high attenuation even though the us-56 has finished

cheers

 

[Stuster]

If time is pressing and it's really stuck, I'd give US-05 a run. Shouldn't be an issue with over-carbonation in the bottle as long as you leave it a bit longer.

But really this brew is just trying to tell you that it's time for a second fermenter. :icon_cheers:

 

[pmolou]

i was so close to getting another one last week but i'm going oversea's very soon (also the reason why i needa brew quick as i want a large stock for my coming back party haha)

 

[THE DRUNK ARAB]

The only saison i brewed took around 6 weeks to go from 1053 to 1007 and that was at a fermentation temperature of 30C+ and that was brewed in February which in Adelaide can be hottish.

Probably the wrong time of the year to be brewing a Saison in Melbourne but as Stuster says, get that extra fermenter but let your Saison ferment out with the original yeast you pitched and if you can, keep the temp warm.

C&B
TDA

 

[mfdes]

i've raised the temp up to 28celcius which i have to do everyday as its so cold.

cheers

Perhaps you're stressing the yeast. From the sounds of it you're warming it up and then it's cooling down on a daily cycle. There's few things that are guaranteed to stress a yeast into flocculating out better than a fluctuating temperature. Next time use a brewbelt or hot plate.

I've used the good US-05 to finish more than one stuck ferment though.

MFS.

 

[brendanos]

I'd leave it anywhere up to 6-8 weeks from pitching before stressing out, I've heard a lot of homebrewers say they've had to wait this long to reach terminal gravity. As mentioned, try and keep the temperature pretty constant, as large fluctuations is no good for our little sugar hungry buddies.

 

[pmolou]

ok i pitch the us-05 but it doesnt seem to be working its at 20c now im kinda conserned, as will i be able to let it get the temp up to 28 (with us-56 even though it doesn't seem to be working) is there some reason its not working? could the saison yeast just have eaten it up pitched a healthy .6l starter

 

[mfdes]

Yeast don't eat other yeast, only sugars.

MFS.

 

[Stuster]

Patience. Leave the fermenter alone and come back to it in a week's time.

 

[pmolou]

haha will do i've brought it inside and its sitting on 30c without going up or down in temp so shouldnt strees the yeast... anymore haha
i'll just leave till it finishes its slowly bubbling away

next time i'll have to remember saison=2nd fermentor

 

[Armstrong]

Out of curiocity, what was the recipe?

The ingredients you used can have just as much affect on the final gravity.

What was your total brew quantity? Again can play a part

Cheers

 

[Sammus]

Saison yeast is pretty notorious for an active start and very slow finish. I did two recently that took about 4 days to get down most of the way, then 6-8 weeks for the last couple points. Both of them held at a constant 26C

 

[pmolou]

here's all the details help would be great
an update is at 28c its stopped bubbling but staying at that temp and smells like vanilla mmmm :super: but dont think its finished fermenting might giv it another 2 weeks atleast @28celcius

heres the details


moloughney's farmhouse ale
--------------------------
Brewer: phil Moloughney @13th MAY 2008
Style: Saison
Batch: 23.00 LPartial Mash

Characteristics
---------------
Recipe Gravity: 1.048 OG
Recipe Bitterness: 25 IBU
Recipe Color: 6 SRM
Estimated FG: 1.012
Alcohol by Volume: 4.7%
Alcohol by Weight: 3.7%

Ingredients
-----------
Crystal 20L 0.20 kg, Grain, Mashed
coopers Light malt extract 1.50 kg, Extract, Extract
coopers Wheat malt extract 1.50 kg, Extract, Extract
inverted cane sugar 0.30 kg, Sugar, Other
sour mash 0.10 kg, Grain, Mashed

Kent Golding 10.00 g, Pellet, 2 minutes
Kent Golding 15.00 g, Pellet, 15 minutes
Kent Golding 5.00 g, Pellet, 60 minutes
nelson sauvin 13.00 g, Pellet, 60 minutes

re-cultered saison yeast (temple's)1.00 unit, Yeast, added at start

Notes
-----
Recipe Notes:
For the sour mash, start 23days in advance. Steep 85 g 2-row pale malt in a pint of 66 C water, then cover
and let sit for 23 days. On brew day, steep the sour mashalong with the crystal malt grains in 11.4 L of
water at 67 C for 30 mins. Remove grains from wort, add the first wortaddition of Styrian Golding hops,
malt syrup and then bringto a boil. Add the nelson sauvin hops and boil for 60 mins. Add the second addition
of Styrian Golding hops for the last 15 mins. of the boil and add the lastaddition of Styrian Golding hops for
the last 2 mins. of the boil. Now add wortto 2 gallons cool water in a sanitary fermenter and top off with cool
water to5.5 gallons (20.9 L). Cool the wort to 75 F (24 C), aerate the beer and pitchyour yeast.


Batch Notes:
fermentation started @ 20 celcius, 13th MAY 2008

a sweet smell is escaping the airlock 1-2 days

a quite off-egg smell is escaping the airlock after 3-4 days (maybe too much sourness?)

us-56 slurry added with 300grams sugar @20celcius on 4th day (clean up)

don't think us-56 worked and incresing temp up to 28 celcius to keep saison yeast awake


ACTUAL OG without added sugar 1.051

ESTIMATED OG after adding sugars +0.5% ABV

=1.056

FG=

ABV=

 

[Weizguy]

ok i pitch the us-05 but it doesnt seem to be working its at 20c now im kinda conserned, as will i be able to let it get the temp up to 28 (with us-56 even though it doesn't seem to be working) is there some reason its not working? could the saison yeast just have eaten it up pitched a healthy .6l starter

I wouldn't recommend a lengthy ferment at 28C with US-05, but a few days to get the gravity down should be OK. I find that US-05 throws a lot of fusels at that temp i.e. nail polish remover beer.

Also, was it only a 0.6 l starter? Here's a tip for Belgian beer - use at least a 2 l starter.
Belgian yeast also like to go to sleep, permanently, if they get too cold. You CANNOT wake them. Not with a temp rise, not with rousing, not with extra sugar... uh uh, no way. Your saison yeast may be comatose. Try not to allow the brew to become so cool in future.
I have to agree with Sammus re the Saison yeast. It goes quick early and then dawdles to the finish, but should ferment quite dry over about 6 weeks. Probably not a good choice for a quick turnaround beer.

quoth Stu - "But really this brew is just trying to tell you that it's time for a second fermenter."

I agree. Why do you not have a 2nd/ racking vessel?

Hope I've given some help here.
Les out

 

[pmolou]

yer that is helpful although the one thing i dont get is i did pitch the us-05 at 20celcius _as i now of the fusels etc) and no activity and raised until i saw activity which was 26 celcius which i prosume is the saison yeast wakingup not the us-05 so is it possible the us-05 just never worked? i cultured it up before i put it in and it was healthy.

secondry vessel well im goin goverseas soon and still new only 4th brew
but when i get but of course i've been looking at getting 2 12litre ones so i can make lots of differant beers :chug:

but yer does the us-05 situation seem suss to u guys it was the slurry from a pale ale bacth that i cleaned, seems suss to me

 

[pmolou]

yer les the weizguy i think u wer rightin the yeast going to sleep permenently (damn little buggers) may have stressed it too much

but after adding the us-05 and no action i have added a forbidden fruit culture which is acticly working away, (as i saw it had a similiar attenuation as saison yeast)

what type of flavours could i expect to get from this i pitched at 26c and has fallen to 23c (stable and not moving temps as before)

should be interesting to taste ,saison, us-05 and forbidden fruit haha