Help with extract saison

It will be completely different, but fortune favors the bold.

 

Czech. Always, and Czech Saaz can throw some apricot and citrus too.

 

it just so happens that I have 5 or lbs of light pilsen DME, and some mangrove jack french saison dry yeast.... Looks like I'll be doing something like this soon

 

My last batch was an extract saison that I fermented with 3711 at ~74-76 and it went bonkers -- planned for 5.7% ABV and got 6.3. Bittered with 3 oz. of 2.5% Czech Saaz and added an ounce of (I think, notes not here) 7% Motueka at flameout. Despite the high attenuation, the first bottle (bottled 4/23, tasted 4/30) wasn't as dry as expected and had a lime/citrus note that complemented the yeast profile nicely.

 

Looks pretty similar to what I suggested above
Be aware that the yeast is going to bring the gravity down and the ABV up more than a "normal" yeast would. I also think you would be fine with one package of yeast.

 

I'm not a fan of mixing English hops in belgian styles, but that's just my own ocd. Looks good!

 

I used Wyeast 3724 in a cherry saison earlier this year and we're drinking it now. I chose to bottle it instead of kegging and used mainly 16 oz or larger bottles. It was all grain, but mostly pilsner malt....I used Drew Beecham's open fermentation recommendation (just foil on top of fermenter) and got a good persistent if not rapid fermentation, at room termperature. FG 1.003 Crazy good saison with that 3724!

 

I think you will be able to make a good beer at these temperatures with this yeast 3711. It will have some saison character, and it will be fairly dry. The saison character will not be as fruity as some saisons. It will be more peppery/spicy. I prefer other saison yeasts, including 3724 (aka WLP 565), although this has a reputation for being temperamental (i.e., will stall). Some newbies get steered to 3711 because it does not suffer these problems. I encourage you to eventually try them both and decide what you like. If you choose 3724, let us know and we can give you tips with that yeast to avoid the problems I alluded to.

There are other saison yeasts you might try. I have experience with Belle Saison dry yeast, which I found comparable to 3711, and WLP 585, which leaned more towards interest fruitiness than spiciness (and I loved). One of my upcoming beers will use the Mangrove Jack French Saison dry yeast strain, which I expect to be like the Belle Saison/3711, based on the description.

 

I do not know the yeast bay strain. I do not think you should discount belle saison. It merely boils down to preference. You'll need to try it some time to develop an opinion.

 

3724 and 565 are notorious for long conditioning times. That could be due to co2 inhibition of the yeast. In my own experience 3-4 weeks or less. I've not had conditioning issues with 3711 or Belle Saison.

 

The honest to god truth, it really doesn't matter. When you make this beer with so few ingredients, you will wonder why people pay 6$ a pint for such an easy to produce beer.

Have fun, good luck,

 

@pweis909 are you sure 3724 and 565 are the same strain? I had read they are both from DuPont, but different strains.
Either way I love 3724, I open ferment with it at room temp with no stalling issues.

 

Not sure, and I probably am at least technically incorrect. I've heard the same stories. One variant is DuPont has a mixed culture and two different isolat s have been obtained. Another could be that some evolution has taken place between the two since the initial isolation. The yeast companies seem to recognize this possibility. For example, it is probably incorrect to say 001 and 1056 are the same strain, but that they each have been derived from the same lineage, fairly recently, with seemingly little evolutionary divergence.I never brewed a side by side batch so cannot say whether I could taste a profile difference with 565 and 3724, although I have heard of people using both simultaneously to get a more DuPont-like profile. Fodder for an experiment. Regardless, both have a rep for stalling that somewhat recently has been attributed to co2 intolerance that possibly relates to the rumored red wine yeast origins of the strain(s).