Saison Fermentation

[brewinhard]

I have used that yeast many times and have had my best success by leaving the beer in the primary on top of the full yeast cake and keeping the temps in the low 80's F until the beer has finished. It has taken as long as 5 wks in primary to get a 1.058 saison to dry out to 1.008 before with this method, but it did finally attenuate. Just be patient, keep the temps warm, and dont be afraid to swirl the carboy to rouse the yeast up every other day or so.

[Stinkfist]

They are still fermenting steadily, I just wanted to be prepared to trouble shot. It really makes me mad that it got to 90, I wanted to keep it at high 70's. Its frustrating to put all the work and time into the brew and not get the appropriate fermentation. The way I see it, one weekend and about 300 bucks and I can put an end to that!

you don't want to start in the high 70's...you still want to pitch it low say 68F and then slowly warm it up maybe a degree a day...you will probably have some fusels..

[dbang2012]

you don't want to start in the high 70's...you still want to pitch it low say 68F and then slowly warm it up maybe a degree a day...you will probably have some fusels..

Yeah, I expected that, but its to late now. I will probably try again soon and use this method of slowing ramping up the temperature.

[maxwell]

It's definitely possible to get temperature control for a lot less than $300 if that's what is stopping you. Check this out:

http://home.roadrunner.com/~brewbeer/ch ... hiller.PDF

Used fridges can be had cheap on craigslist too if you're looking to spend a little more to eliminate the hassle of changing out ice-filled jugs.

[dbang2012]

Thanks for the specs on the fermentation chiller. I think ill spend the money for the fridge, a heating element and dual stage controller so I can both heat and cool down.

[ConBuff]

Reading this thread, it's making me realize how important temperature really is. I'm looking at this guide. Can you guys tell me if it's accurate?

For ale, this temperature is usually 64–75 °F; for lager it is typically much colder, around 50 °F; wine normally starts fermenting around 68 °F, while cider between 59–64 °F.

Source: fermentation

How flexible is this? Like +/- 2? Something like that?

[brewinhard]

Unsure for cider/wine, but your lager yeast temps look good. Ale yeast temps are really truly dependent on yeast strain and what you are trying to achieve with them. Some ale yeasts ferment best at 60 deg (alt, kolsch, steam) while others prefer warmer temps closer to high 60's. Either way, you typically will want to pitch yeast a few degrees cooler than you projected fermentation temperature and let the beer warm up to those temps gradually. Raising the temps a couple degrees or so towards the end of fermentation can help the yeast to fully attenuate and keep them happily cleaning and conditioning your beer.

[ConBuff]

Unsure for cider/wine, but your lager yeast temps look good. Ale yeast temps are really truly dependent on yeast strain and what you are trying to achieve with them. Some ale yeasts ferment best at 60 deg (alt, kolsch, steam) while others prefer warmer temps closer to high 60's. Either way, you typically will want to pitch yeast a few degrees cooler than you projected fermentation temperature and let the beer warm up to those temps gradually. Raising the temps a couple degrees or so towards the end of fermentation can help the yeast to fully attenuate and keep them happily cleaning and conditioning your beer.

Thanks for the info. I've always thought that brewing is just like baking wherein all you need to do is to follow everything.