Damn Saison

[Dirk McLargeHuge]

probably take at least two months.

All right, then. Now comes the obligatory autolysis question: I will ferment no more than 21 days in primary. With a saison, should I let if go? I am brewing a saison next weekend that I was planning to keg before I leave for NHC. Should I let that stay in primary for two months?

Could I put it in a keg and leave it a warmish spot until I get back?

[bleachcola]

And how long should I wait before throwing the heater on it to put the temperature in the upper 70's to 80? Since Saturday it has been around 70 degrees.

[aleguy]

I would rack it into a secondary and just let it work. Stick it somewhere warm like a closet in the garage, or on the porch (back porch) or something. As long as it's in the dark, you should be okay, but I prefer to let nature decide on the temperature with this style.
Some of the best Saison I ever had was just left out on the back porch through a couple of blazing hot summer months. Just Rack it into a clean carboy after -3 weeks and forget it until you get back. As long as the weather is warm enough that the yeast won't crash, it should be awesome. Otherwise just go ahead and put on your fermwrap before you head for Oakland.

[Nate Diggler]

If you have a good healthy starter, and a healthy primary ferment, autolysis shouldn't be an issue... I've left a beer in the primary for over a year twice (English Barleywine and Weizenbock), and neither had autolysis.

That being said, racking to a secondary to get it off of the bulk of the yeast can't hurt either.

probably take at least two months.

All right, then. Now comes the obligatory autolysis question: I will ferment no more than 21 days in primary. With a saison, should I let if go? I am brewing a saison next weekend that I was planning to keg before I leave for NHC. Should I let that stay in primary for two months?

Could I put it in a keg and leave it a warmish spot until I get back?

[bleachcola]

Damn, I don't want to wait that long. Next time I'm going to use the Saison Blend from White Labs.

[aleguy]

That timeline is just a guess. There's no real way to be sure how long it will take. Saisons usually take quite a while. My best advice is to brew something else as well, maybe a golden strong ale or something. Then you should have something to drink a little sooner. Provided you have the fermentation space that is. You could just do a nice APA with American ale/Cal ale/ Safale 05 at room temperature. That would be ready to keg in ten days.

[tavish2]

dont limit yourself to time tables. beer is done when its done. how is it done? the only way to tell is to take two gravity readings that have the same reading at least a day apart. i wait till i dont see much activity on the air lock (maybe 1 bubble a min) and then i take a reading. write it down, wait a few days and check again. if the gravity has changed, its not done. oh and as far as the 21 day thing dirk? you being paranoid? i have a barley wine that i brewed on 4/12 and is still on the primary cake, i just cold crashed it 3 days ago and i am ready to keg it tomorrow. no off flavors from dead yeast.

[andy77]

dont limit yourself to time tables. beer is done when its done. how is it done? the only way to tell is to take two gravity readings that have the same reading at least a day apart. i wait till i dont see much activity on the air lock (maybe 1 bubble a min) and then i take a reading. write it down, wait a few days and check again. if the gravity has changed, its not done. oh and as far as the 21 day thing dirk? you being paranoid? i have a barley wine that i brewed on 4/12 and is still on the primary cake, i just cold crashed it 3 days ago and i am ready to keg it tomorrow. no off flavors from dead yeast.

I did that with mine, readings 3 days apart. Same gravity, but the suspended yeast is still fermenting in the keg at room temps. I think that saison yeast is a realllllllll slow fermenter. I should have just let it sit for a month. Like you said, no harm in that, and I think it would have finished.

I agree with you tavish about not being afraind to leave the beer on yeast, I think that the fear of autolysis is way overblown.