Low gravity saison, seeking sparge and yeast advice

I have no answer on the sparge, I use a cooler MLT and would not use any sparge water were this my beer, I would mash with full volume.

I love 3724, 3726 is amazing and is out right now. I usually let my Saisons ferment to a stable FG (under 1.006) and then add Brett B (Orval) at bottling. It really seems to kick up the Brett character fairly quick when it is under pressure like that. I had a 7 month old bottle take 2nd in category. I still have a 6 pack of that beer in the cellar at 2.25 years old, and it drinks great. Did another Saison last February that I hit with Brett B (Elysian Mortis) at bottling that is coming along nicely. I did a 3726 session saison that was great while it lasted (no Brett), and then rebrewed it with 3/4 gallon hit with RR dregs for 4 weeks of primary and blended back in at bottling, well over a year later it has funk and a good sourness, still super fruity. Both bottled w/ Brett Saisons were 3724, and the Brett was from a starter.

 

Can you explain why you would do this?

 

With that little grain what is the point. You would only need a minuscule amount of water to rinse. Just an extra unneeded step. I have done no sparge on 5 gallons of Imperial Red IPA. I remember reading on the old forum that quite a few people go with no sparge on low gravity beers to help with retaining body.

 

Sounds interesting. I've been doing more lower ABV stuff than not, I'm going to have to try that. So your initial water volume (for a 5 gal batch) would be

(5 gal) + (grain absorption) + (boil off evaporation)

amirite?

 

I've done a lot of saisons with brett, including a recent 3.95% ABV saison "biere de table" with 3724 and brett b that is turning out to be a really fantastic beer.

I usually pitch the brett from Orval dregs about a week after primary fermentation, then leave in primary for another 6 weeks or so. You don't want to make a starter when using brett as a secondary strain. I usually use dregs of 1 bottle of Orval for 2.5 gallon batches, and its more than enough. After a couple of months I get very pronounced brett flavor and aroma from that.

Brett does well with a variety of temperatures. It will should fine with whatever temp you're using with your saison yeast.

I've also dosed the brett at bottling (using a 30 ml bottle dropper - about 3 or 4 drops of dregs per bottle) and had good results that way as well. Make sure the beer is already under 1.010 when bottling so that you don't overcarb. Shouldn't be an issue with a saison strain as your primary fermenter since they tend to super-attenuate. Usually my beers are well below 1.010 by the time I add the brett.

Good luck, let us know how it works out.

 

Correct. If you use a strain like 3711 or 3724, it will take the beer already below 1.010. Those strains on their own will usually finish at 1.003 to 1.006. If your gravity is already below 1.010 when you bottle, you'll be fine. (Having said that, I only ever use Orval empties, just to be safe).

 

Pretty much. I always do 5.25 gallons into the fermenter + kettle/pump/hop loss (1-2 qts) + boil off + grain absorption. You will have to adjust the water/grist ratio on whatever software you use to hit the correct strike temp. What I do is adjust the w/g ratio until my spreadsheet shows that I no longer need sparge water and it works out great.

 

3726 will get you to 1.006 or below as well. I have never used anything other than recycled commercial bottles that I just wash, sanitize, fill, carb, chill, drink, wash, sanitize, store, fill, carb, chill, drink, etc, etc over and over again, never had a bomb.

 

Yep, no reason to fear bombs when you bottle below 1.010. But still, "just to be safe" I drink copious amounts of Orval, to save the empties. It's terrible, I know.

 

Sparging seems to be covered. As far as yeast goes, I really like wlp670 american farmhouse. It ferments out as quickly as a straight sacc fermentation does, and the brett throws tons of tropical fruit after about 6 months. I used it with a citra/chinook dryhop and won 3rd place in a belgian comp last weekend. I like the simplicity of it. I pitched two vials and let it go at room temp for about 6 weeks in primary, secondaried for 2 weeks on hops and bottled it up. After 8 weeks in the bottle the shit was subliime.

 

I think you are vastly underhopping that beer. I don't know offhand the IBUs on Le Petit Prince but I'd be surprised if it's less than 25. At 13 IBUs you basically have a beer with the same bitterness as a BMC. If you email JK they will send you a copy of the recipe. I'd take a look at their recipe for a better construction of the hop profile.

 

Agreed, I've never had JK but my Saison's typically have 1oz around 20 mins and 1.5oz at FO, bitter to a BU:GU of .60ish.