BeerBorg

I'm going to brew my Saison D'etre again this summer. I brewed it around this time last year, but the weather has been cooler than usual, so I have some misgivings (and I can always brew some other recipe for the time being, while I wait for the temperature to be right).

Last year, I kept the carboy in the beer closet upstairs, rather than in the basement, which rarely gets above the mid-60s. But I checked the beer closet temp today, and it's around 73. So then I went up into the attic, and the temp there was closer to 78 or so. And that might make for a good saison. But I'm wondering if I should wait until early June. As I said, I can always brew another recipe instead.

FYI, I use Danstar Belle Saison yeast in this recipe.

Your thoughts?

I ferment my beers in my basement that stays 66 to 68 degrees year round. Bell saison yeast ferments so actively it raises the temp of my beer to 75 degrees even in that environment.

Attic won't be 78 at night.

I like to pitch Bella around 75, let it free rise and then run it on up to 85+. Last one I did took 1st place at Suwanee beer fest.

I was thinking when it was cooler and if I wanted to do a saison before summer, why not just brew the beer and instead of chilling it down to 65 like I do, stop at 80 and pitch. It should kick in fast and raise the temp to the mid 80's before the ambient 78 room temperature affected it.
Not the best solution but should work.



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I think I'll wait until we get more consistently warm weather. Rick is right that the attic would be subject to temperature swings. I'll stick with keeping it in the beer closet. I may pitch in the low 70s and then just let it be. It turned out very well last year.

IMHO Bella Saison and/or French Saison (3711) don't *need* to go up into the 80s. 75+ is enough. I have made lots of great beer at around 75-78 degrees with both. It's really the Belgian Saison strain (3724) that *needs* to get up into the 80s or even 90s to ferment out fully and taste best.

It won't hurt anything for Bella to get into the 80s, but it doesn't *need* to.

FWIW, I even made beer with Bella Saison with ambient temps in the 60s once, since it was a "Bier de Garde" not a Saison. It still tasted very similar to Bella in the 70s-80s. It just didn't attenuate quite as much. By not quite as much I mean it "only" went down to 1.005 instead of going down to 1.002 or 1.000 or 0.997. But it was still tart/citrusy and spicy.

That's good to know. And I honestly don't remember what the conditions were last year; I just remember the beer turned out very satisfying. But I still think I'm going to switch rotation and brew the Sunbonnet Lemon Wheat instead, and brew the Saison in June.

Well, my favorite soliciting temperature is about 70 degrees. Not too hot, not too cold. This way I neither sweat nor get too chilly as I go from door to door soliciting.

Wow...

I thought you were going to say 75 because at that temp, dressed in your short shorts and halter top, you're not too cold on the corner...

mashani wrote:IMHO Bella Saison and/or French Saison (3711) don't *need* to go up into the 80s. 75+ is enough. I have made lots of great beer at around 75-78 degrees with both. It's really the Belgian Saison strain (3724) that *needs* to get up into the 80s or even 90s to ferment out fully and taste best.

It won't hurt anything for Bella to get into the 80s, but it doesn't *need* to.

FWIW, I even made beer with Bella Saison with ambient temps in the 60s once, since it was a "Bier de Garde" not a Saison. It still tasted very similar to Bella in the 70s-80s. It just didn't attenuate quite as much. By not quite as much I mean it "only" went down to 1.005 instead of going down to 1.002 or 1.000 or 0.997. But it was still tart/citrusy and spicy.

DITTO I have found the same to be true. The French Saison yeast is my go to for farmhouse ales