Another saison fermentation problem

Swirl the carboy, rouse the yeast, keeps temps where they are, walk away for 2 more weeks, then check again. RDWHAHB.

 

Four weeks is a decent amount of time for it to completely stall without much more happening. If you're not adverse to using the Brett, it wouldn't hurt to go ahead and pitch now, as the flavors created by Brett C are very complementary to the Dupont strain's flavors, IMO. If you want straight 3724 for the future, make sure to take out some or all of the cake now. (I haven't played around with 3724 too much, but I've heard that it has better attenuation across subsequent generations.)

While the Brett C should take it down quite a bit from where it is, I would suggest rousing at least some of the yeast as suggested above, even if taking some of the cake for future use as 3724 alone. Another option would be to also add something like 3711 to take the gravity down further. Also, if you're in no rush, would probably be a good idea to do at least a small starter of the Brett C.

 

Wait.

 

It seems like every other post on Wyeast 3724 is a stalling problem. I harvested the yeast from Saison DuPont, supposedly the ancestor of 3724, and it's a monster. I ferment warm (mid 80s) and my gravity will hit 1.005 in a week. After another week it settles down near 1.002. I do an extended aging and the aroma is magnificent.

For the 3724-lovers out there, consider harvesting DuPont yeast. The commercial DuPont is easy to find, very tasty, and it has been one of the easiest harvest I have done.

This doesn't directly help the OP, but hopefully some future saison-brews will go easier/quicker.

 

I am harvesting it right now for that specific purpose.

 

Agree with this as well. I absolutely love Dupont (brown bottles, don't like the skunk in the green) and have been hesitant to really use 3724 (without Brett/bugs) given the stories, and the fact that it's highly likely, IMO, that the strains in their bottles other than what's been isolated as 3724/565 contribute at least something to the final product. Now I just need to find a weekend to go through a 4-pack of the brown bottles so that I have plenty of yeast to start from

 

Or get the Cuvee and the Avril that just hit shelves about a month ago; much more rare than the standard Dupont, and it will give you about the same amount of yeast as the 4 pack.

 

I haven't seen the Cuvee around here yet One of my favorites, so I would gladly be doing that if I had the choice! Avril is around here, though I don't think too fresh, and then still have to deal with the green bottles...

 

I just grabbed a cuvee about 2 weeks ago. Planning on harvesting yeast from that bottle. I have too much commercial saison yeast at home as it is though!

 

Got a stir plate of DuPont dregs, 250 ml about to bump up to 1500 ml tonight. Planning on Tuesday brew day. Only problem is I'm having a hard time finding a heating blanket down here in SoFL for fermentation so I'm contemplating wrapping in blankets on the porch. I worry about temp instability on the porch but maybe blankets + thermal mass will minimize fluctuations.

 

Have you checked WalMart? Look in the clearance section there too.

 

Where in Florida do you live that requires a heater to reach temps in the 80s in July? I just put a saison-brew in my ferm fridge recently to avoid the 90+!

The one time I used DuPont yeast in the winter I used a light bulb to raise the room temp (mid-70s) to the mid 80s. I used a large towel to make a tent and placed a small lamp underneath, then rotated the fermentor twice a day. The thermowell temp stayed in the low to mid 80s.

 

Fort Lauderdale but don't have garage, just a little balcony in an apt.

I stepped up my DuPont starter last night like mentioned and woke up this morning with krausen spewing from the top of the flask all over the counter with about an inch of cake layer at the bottom, this yeast is a beast!