danstar bella saison..holy cow!

[zorak1066]

did a saison.. 3gal batch with a full sachet of yeast. room temp for the first week (67f) .. in a couple days had 3-4 inches of krausen that fell by day 4!!

week 2 put it in a heated water bath at 74f and added half pound of raw honey that I let sit over night in boiled water to cool. . . about a quart. the fermenter was dead quiet when I tossed it in. within less than 20 minutes I had rapid airlock activity! happy happy yeast!

so after week 3 I bottled in 1/2 liter bottles with 2 cubes of sugar each... about 4g per bottle. (final grav just over 1.001) stored in 65-67f environment. the bottles are ROCK FREAKING SOLID IN THREE DAYS. each bottle has a nice layer of bottle trub already. (pretty white trub to contrast the beer)

omg... this is the coolest yeast.

[DaYooper]

I am a huge fan of that yeast myself and many times ramp that puppy up until it hits 90F to get the cooler and warmer complexities of it.

[BeerRust]

I have some that I am using now also. Less than 12 hours and that was some active stuff. I keeping it warm right now with a towel in the high 70's. Just for a week than I will let it cool down into high 60's for the remaining time in the fermenter.

[mashani]

Half the batches I made this summer was with Bella. That's what I think of it.

[Betolis]

I made my first saison this summer and I'm pretty impressed too.

[Inkleg]

I think that yeast would ferment out an old sneaker. I know for a fact that it will get a beer down to a FG of 0.098

[zorak1066]

you know youre obsessed when you find yourself as giddy as a little girl when your yeast performs beyond expectations. lol... I need a life

can you believe they are already done with the sugar in the bottle and are settling out despite being a low floc yeast? I've got clearing beer with a layer of silty, yeasty goodness at the bottom of the bottle.

[mashani]

FYI: My experience is that it settles to the bottom of the bottle quickly, but it doesn't cake up densely. So if you pour the whole bottle except for the dregs in one clean pour you can get totally clear beer in a glass. But if you pour half a bottle and then pour more, that pour can get a bit cloudy. The cloudy beer doesn't taste wrong in any way, so if it happens treat it like a hefe - enjoy it.

Inkleg is right about the 0.098. Even 100% extract beers, anything I've made 1.06 or < has ended up 1.003 or <. AG with lower mash temps, or sugar adjunct and you are .0somthing.

[zorak1066]

I enjoy hefe yeast in my beer so I'm really looking forward to this batch. the hydro sample already tasted great. the hops are clean... the wheat malt shines and pairs great with the munich and pilsen. the honey I added is barely detectable flavorwise but added a little something to the aroma. the bittering is just right... (does snoopy happy dance)

[Gymrat]

In my opinion Belle Saison yeast lends a "peppery" character to my beer.

[BeerRust]

In my opinion Belle Saison yeast lends a "peppery" character to my beer.

I get a little of that right at the end also.

[jimjohson]

Yeah I've used Belle Saison 5 times now. Definitely a good yeast.

In my opinion Belle Saison yeast lends a "peppery" character to my beer.

If your lookin for pepper/spicy, try T-58. I believe, it is also a Belgium yeast.

[mashani]

T-58 and Bella can taste a lot a like depending on fermentation temps. But T-58 at higher temps gets fruity, where Bella does not. Bella has a citrus like tartness along with the peppery flavors that T-58 does not out of the box. T-58 has some subtle cloves, more then Bella. T-58 can make Banana at high temps, where Bella doesn't do that in my experience. Neither of them make much Bubblegum, if you want Bubblegum you need to use a Dupont strain (Belgian Saison liquid yeast).

But T-58 is lucky to hit 75-78% attenuation without help (IE a good bit of sugar adjunct) where Bella is as you know a beast. So to get a similar tasting outcome you need to use sugar or candi syrup with T-58 to get the final attenuate levels closer and dry out the beer.

I have made some really good pseudo-saisons with T-58 by using up to 20% sugar adjunct, to get it to ferment out drier like Bella would without the sugar.

It makes good pseudo-saisons.

But I only do it if I happen to have T-58 on hand for some reason. If not I'd go with the Bella for peppery/citrusy saisons, and Belgian Saison if I want a more DuPont like vibe.

I think White Labs sells a blend of the two now actually, so you get the automatic great attenuation of Bella/French saison and the extra bubblegum/fruity esters from the Belgian strain. The Belgian strain is a fickle animal on it's own to get to fully ferment out unless you can find a 90+ degree room for it.

[Ibasterd]

Indeed Belle Saison is a beast. According to the math, I had 100% attenuation on a batch. Make a nice dry beer.

[Bassman]

My apartment hits 72', higher once the radiator starts going crazy. My guess is that Belle Saison is fine fermenting at those temperatures. I'm planning on brewing the MB Saison.