Mr. No-Tip
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- Joined
- 26/9/11
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So I put down my first Saison on Sunday using WLP565. I am surprised by the speed of the ferment. I've heard of lots of people having difficulties with Saisons stalling, but that this blend was less likely to stall. Still, I was expecting this to take a few weeks to really finish - to the point that I borrowed a second fermentation chamber so as not to disrupt my brewing schedule leading up to xmas.
I'm about to head off to ANHC, so thought I'd better check the gravity and look at adding my mid ferment .45kg of simple sugar rather than wait till Sunday and potentially miss the primary. 54 hours after pitching, it's dropped from 1056 to 1012. Obviously 1012 is not where I want the Saison to finish, but it's pretty amazing for such a short time. I am adding the simple sugar tonight and hoping for a mid 1000's finish.
This seems odd to me, especially for this style of beer. I am wondering if it's the yeast or some other variables. Other relevant facts:
Regardless of cause, is such a fast ferment concerning? It tastes pretty decent from the fermenter even at 1012 - lots of Saisonny flavours without any defects noticeable by my simple palate.
If we don't reach a negative conclusion, I'd definitely recommend other saison brewers give this yeast a go. Could be a nice quick reliable ferment.
I'm about to head off to ANHC, so thought I'd better check the gravity and look at adding my mid ferment .45kg of simple sugar rather than wait till Sunday and potentially miss the primary. 54 hours after pitching, it's dropped from 1056 to 1012. Obviously 1012 is not where I want the Saison to finish, but it's pretty amazing for such a short time. I am adding the simple sugar tonight and hoping for a mid 1000's finish.
This seems odd to me, especially for this style of beer. I am wondering if it's the yeast or some other variables. Other relevant facts:
- 2l starter left on the plate at 22 for 36 hours + 12 off plate, cooled and somewhat decanted.
- My oxygen ran out. Quick decision and decided to use some olive oil instead - first time with this experiment.
- Visible, thick krausen within 6 hours. I've never had that before, even with starters.
- Have ramped up to 25.5 over the last couple days - not by adding heat, but by bringing the temp controller up within it's range of 8 degrees as the ferment naturally added a few points of a degree every few hours.
Regardless of cause, is such a fast ferment concerning? It tastes pretty decent from the fermenter even at 1012 - lots of Saisonny flavours without any defects noticeable by my simple palate.
If we don't reach a negative conclusion, I'd definitely recommend other saison brewers give this yeast a go. Could be a nice quick reliable ferment.