Saison Yeast

[bleachcola]

I'm putting together a Saison recipe for brewing this Summer when it gets hot. With most yeast it is my understanding that they do best with stable temperatures or for some a slowly rising temperature. I want to ferment this outside on the back porch to see how the hotter temperature will affect the flavor. Obviously there will be a temperature swing from day to night or if it rains. Will the Saison yeast handle this well or should I just keep the fermentor inside? If I keep it inside it'll just be exposed to a constant 70 degree air temperature and I'm afraid I won't get the full complexity of the yeast strain.

[brewtoomuch]

No yeast like to have major temp swings, and the saison yeast like to ferment hot. I would try to keep it in the mid 70's. Just my 2 cents.

[bleachcola]

Might have to bust out the heating blanket.

[Bugeater]

As mentioned, saison yeast is very sensitive to temperature fluctuations. You best bet would be to set the fermenter into a big plastic laundry tub and fill with water up to the level of the fermenting wort. Stick a big aquarium heater in there to keep the temp where you want it. The mass of the water will help keep the temperature stable. The heater is there in case the temp drops too low.

If you are going to put this on the porch be sure to keep the fermenter in the dark. Toss a blanket or something over the whole works.

This yeast does indeed work well at high temperatures. I've ramped the temp up as high as 95°F and gotten great results. At lower temperatures, the fermentation can drag out for a month or more. WLP550 is what I normally use. It is finicky but makes great beer. It will often "go on vacation" for no apparent reason for a few days and then start fermenting again. It may do this a number of times during the process so don't get all bent out of shape if fermentation seems to have finished at too high a gravity. Just give it another week and it should start back up again. Patience is the key here.

Wayne

[Oktober]

If you have to pick between the two, I would use the Wyeast Saison yeast over White Labs (unless you can get the Saison II). The WLP one is just a real bear to get it to attenuate all the ways down. If you use it, plan on a second pitch of another yeast to get it to finish the job. Getting it really dry is key.

As for temp, I started mine at 68-70 for the first several days to get the bulk of fermentation going, then ramped it up slowly over the course of several days. I peaked out at 80 at the end, which got me the funky ester profile I was hoping for, without any of the hot alcohols that might have come out if it was at high temps all the way through.

Lastly, don't forget to let it condition for a couple weeks either in the keg or in the bottle - there can be a lot of rough edges in the beer right after it finishes.

Take a listen to Jamil's Show on saisons, as it will talk through a lot of the temp issues. Plus there is a surprise visit from one of the White's to shed some light on the yeast.

Best of luck.

-Okt

[bleachcola]

Sweet. Appreciate the advice guys.