Averagely Perfect Saison - Poll #44 - Fermentation Target Upper Temp

Michael,

When you state "least successful batch", is your criticism concerning the fact that the beer turned out very funky?

Cheers!

Jack

 

Well, if the WL figure is completely wrong, I'm a bit lost here. I want SOME funk...not ALL funk.

Hmm...

 

That batch just had a weird/young/raw funk I didn't care for. Granted it was a repitched slurry, and likely had considerably more Brett than a single vial would in this case. I liked the beer I repitched from, which got the Brett in primary with a 67F ambient fermentation to start (then warmed up when it stalled).

 

I suppose it is not an easy task to come up with unambiguous descriptions for various funky flavors.

My sole experience with brewing with Brett was a co-pitch of Bastogne yeast and Brett Brux via Wyeast 3789. I have zero idea what the relative amounts of ale yeast vs. Brett exists in that smack-pack. I did make a starter from Wyeast 3789 and maybe that could have changed the proportions even more?

What I can state is for two batches using 3789 (and making a starter of those smack-packs) is that the beer was dominated by funk. My guess is that the ale yeast strain was an early 'grower' in this batch and produced compounds that were later metabolized by the Brett Brux to create funky flavors. FWIW, I found those funky flavors to be consistent with the 'classic' descriptors of: barnyard, horse blanket, wet hay, etc. I was not shooting for a beer dominated by this level of funk originally but I really liked the resulting beer.

For both of these batches I fermented starting at the mid-high 60's and after about 4-5 days finish up in the mid-70s. A total of 4 weeks in the primary.

I have no specific experience with a co-pitch of WLP650/WY3724 & WLP650 so I am uncertain how well 3789 will 'translate' to this particular co-pitch. Does WLP650/WY3724 create the same type and amounts of phenols as the Bastogne yeast strain?

Cheers!

 

I've used 3724 for my Saison beers. I gradually increase the temps and end up using 2 heat belts & 1 pad to reach the upper 80's, so I chose 88. I've not reached a higher temp. I's a long process. Good luck & enjoy!

 

Have you used Brett with 3724? Specifically, have you copitched brett with 3724?

 

No, I've not co-pitched Brett with 3724.

 

I don't want to complicate the results of the poll, but Chad Y advocates making a brett starter if the brett culture has been refrigerated which would be applicable to store bought yeast.

Keep in mind, doing a starter doesn't necessarily mean growing the cell count in a significant way. There is such a thing as a wake up starter. In this case, a small volume starter such as a 500ml starter with a short duration of 4-5 non stirred days would serve well as a wake up starter.

 

You got a problem with democracy? This Amurica! We got a long, respected tradition of dealing with the sub-optimal because it was voted on.

 

So would you also say that fermenting at 75 will produce the same flavors with the Dupont yeast as fermenting at 85?

Too true!

 

80.... hrmm.. I think I can probably get that temp in my garage in about a month. Not a bad decision.

 

Man, all you need is a chest freezer, a heating pad, and a quilt. As me how i know.

 

Got all that... just not interested in turning my chest freezer into a hot box when my garage is about to become one. Ask me how my sours progress so well in a year with a cool house, and a hot garage.

 

No idea, I have never seen the need to push Dupont to a temp that high, but I am not trying to "finish" my beer in a weeks time either. And, I get great flavor with the yeast in the low 70s.

I've said it before, but I think a lot of the complaining about this yeast is because people don't make starters and they expect their yeast/beer to follow a schedule. There are lots of people who have reported absolutely no problems with this yeast other than it can be slow.