danstar bella saison..holy cow!

[jimjohson]

the temp of the fermenter is going to be higher, can be as much as 10 degrees during active fermentation.

[mashani]

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.

Your fermenting wort might hit the 80s, but that's ok.

[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.

Your fermenting wort might hit the 80s, but that's ok.

Thanks.

[zorak1066]

my first time using bella saison by danstar, I had an aquarium heater in water with the fermenter partially submerged in it. ambient temp from day 3 til end of week 3 was 74f. so at peak inside temp had to be around 78-80f..

it was the best , most complex tasting beer ive ever drank (dubbels and stouts excluded).

[zorak1066]

ok this is very odd... i made a saison using bella saison. first week at around 66-67f.. took off like a rocket because i pitched 5 gallons worth of yeast in a 3 gallon batch. i wouldve swore fermentation was done in 4 days. anyway... week 2 and 3 i used the aquarium bath thing at 74f. carbed in 3 days rock solid.. maybe 2 days. kind of tired atm... anyway again, after 2 weeks of sitting at about 67f i tried one. i swear it tastes almost exactly like Vitus! it was 2 parts pilsen, 1 part wheat, 1 part munich and damned if it doesnt taste like vitus! maybe not as strong but it has the hops, the bitter, the wheat quality... and almost none of that crazy bella saison funkiness. it's a very good beer! however, next time it gets the heat from day one and i underpitch. maybe it's just my taste buds being off but it is more quality wheat beer than saison.. i am quite pleased with it.

[BlackDuck]

Glad it worked out for you in the end. I wonder if the temp didn't get warm enough during fermentation. Usually the warm temps with the Saison yeast is what gives you the "funkiness" that you were expecting.

Here comes Mashani in three....two.....one.....

[mashani]

Yah, the esters are way toned down with low temps. It's more like a mellow super attenuating Bavarian wheat beer yeast at low temps. Lower pitch rates if your temps are lower would help. It makes wickedly good hoppy beer at lower temps though, so that's another option although it won't be a traditional saison as such of course. Just use all late hops, not much bittering, because it will still attenuate like mad and still make a tart beer so bittering hops will just be too bitter.

[zorak1066]

that explains why the bitter is significantly stronger than I thought it would be.. but still, overall the result was surprisingly good. I drank some and it was like 'omg! someone dumped all my beer and replaced it with vitus!'

it has no banana (no shock there). it is spice, clove, pepper (very slight).. upfront wheat flavor... the tetnang, spalt and saaz are pronounced... there's a little apple... and 2 sugar cubes seems to be just right for carbing (4g). good fizz without being overly spritzy or carbonic acidy. I didn't detect what ppl say is bubblegum. I have yet to detect that in any beer so I have nothing to compare it to.

[mashani]

Bella saison doesn't make much if any bubblegum. Nor does French saison. (I have never gotten bubblegum that I can taste with either).

If you want a saison with Bubblegum use Belgian Saison (DuPont strain) and ferment in the upper 80s-90s. DuPont goes up into the 90s I believe with it at some point in the fermentation.

[BlackDuck]

It makes wickedly good hoppy beer at lower temps though ......... Just use all late hops, not much bittering, because it will still attenuate like mad and still make a tart beer so bittering hops will just be too bitter.

Really, didn't know that. HHmmmm...wonder how it would work in a pale ale or IPA that is temp controlled???