first 5 gallon batch - brew day complete

Congrats on your first brew. It sounds like you're going to be good at learning from your mistakes because you are good at recognizing them. I have not brewed a Saison, so I cannot comment on specific procedures for your beer. But this is the first time that I've heard of anyone aging a Saison for a year. Is that standard for this style?

 

OK, so clearly you are a crazy person: on your first batch (perhaps it's not as you said first 5 gallon batch), you decided to make a beer with the most difficult yeast on the planet! And then you plan to add bugs! Wow! Nothing like diving into the deep end to start.

I will say something useful about WLP 565. Do not be afraid to raise the temperature on this yeast. After a day or so in the 70s I would raise the temperature 2 or 3 degrees F every day until the lower 80s (at least). Some people will take this yeast into to 90s. Raising the temperature will encourage this yeast to complete its job. It is notorious for stalling out and then picking back up on its own accord. I took this yeast into the 80s with the last Saison I made and it finished at 1.003 (after starting at 1.050).

Also, I think I'd skip the bugs on this one (if it is your first beer). But nothing wrong with going for it.

Cheers and good luck!

 

Interesting way to jump in.. Brew your first beer, and then don't get to drink it to see how bad you messed up for a year.

That said, forgiving recipe, somewhat forgiving yeast, and you'll add bugs, which, won't have a ton to eat from your recipe, and you yeast selection, but will get it all funky and fun.

I've got ECY bugs doing work on a batch from march, can't wait until this time next year to blend it with another wild saison I have.

Brew another batch, and make it something you can drink

 

The very definition of a fool's errand.

 

Wish I could but I live in a reality-based world and I'm not your Mommy.
Just about every single honest home brewer can tell you their 1st batch tasted like ass.

Given the error-ridden brew day and the recipe's complexity...why would you expect to beat the odds?

 

Ad homonym is always the white flag of surrender.

Good luck!

 

Don't mind Herb. He's angry after 9:00 pm.

My advice...
- Skip the secondary and the bugs and drink your first batch sooner, and learn from your mistakes. Disclaimer: I don't do sours, but even so, I'd say get your process down before going down that road.
- I use WLP565 (actually the Wyeast equivalent, 3724) a lot. I only take it up to 80F and it always finishes fine for me. Just be patient.
- You don't want to use less water and top off with more. Ideally, full boils are best.

 

Thanks for proving my point.

Ad homonym is always the white flag of surrender.

 

That would be a great point if you and I were actually debating something. And if I had been talking to you. As it was, I was offering advice to the guy you pissed on.

 

Good luck KingTelephone, I admire your determination and restraint. I haven't tried my hands in the bug department, but it sounds like you are well on your way to crafting some exciting beer. Just a note...like mentioned earlier...go ahead and brew a second batch, this time something that doesn't have to age so you can correct your noted mistakes and enjoy your wares. Cheers!!!

 

Not mine. Batch 2 was the ass one.

 

"It's nine o'clock somewhere". . .

 

Congrats! But waiting a year to find out how you did on your first try is not ideal, IMO. What if, only after tasting it, you discover a mistake in a calculation or a process that now afflicts the other 3 or 4 batches that are in the pipeline? My first batch was tapped on day 7, gone by day 10. And it was pretty damn tasty! So good, in fact, I thought I was a beer god! The cockiness showed in my second batch .

It sounds like you did a bit of research, so I won't critique your recipe or your technique. And none of the mistakes you made were necessarily show stoppers. Time will tell. The beer may turn out exactly as it would have had everything gone flawlessly.

Assuming you used dry extract, your OG is about 1.051. If it was liquid, then it's about 1.044 (I ballpark 1.043 points per lb per gal for dry, 1.037 for liquid). Extract is a bit more forgiving of forgotten calculations.

And don't worry about Herb. I'm guessing he's had more than his share of batches that didn't quite meet his expectations and, evidently, assumes that's typical. (He also consistently misspells 'ad hominem' )

 

My advice to the OP (and anyone else on this forum) is to not take yourself too seriously. There are many different personalities on BA and what they post is not always interpreted correctly...this is why although I abhor emoticons, I use them a lot. Cheers all...it's only beer