My latest brew session has been a bit of a comedy of errors. I brewed up a wit this morning, and I was planning on fermenting with Wyeast 3711 (French Saison). I've never used a smack pack before, so when I read "locate inner packet" I went ahead and ripped that sucker open. It wasn't until I reached my grubby hand inside and pulled out the nutrient pack that I realized I had made a horrible mistake. I went ahead with my boil and cooling and transferred the wort to my fermentor. I wasn't comfortable pitching the yeast I messed up, so I ran to NB since I had to return something anyway. I bought what I thought was another packet of 3711, but when I got home (and after I had already activated the pack) I realized it was actually 3724 (Belgian Saison). I'm not sure what to do here. I suppose I could go back to NB and buy another packet of 3711, but that would be kind of a pain, and it would increase the cost of what is already becoming a bit of a pricey batch. I could also pitch the 3724, but I don't know if the character of that yeast would go as well with the wit grain bill and spices. I also don't really have any way to keep that yeast as warm as it probably needs to be to finish--I'd have to go buy an aquarium heater or something, plus my Speidel fermentor with the wort in it has a spigot right now, so submersion might not be the best idea. The only other yeasts I have on hand are WLP-001 and US-05. I don't want the wort to sit for too long before I pitch (it has been about 2 hours already), so any advice you can give would be much appreciated. The grain bill is 3.9lb Pilsner malt, 3.5lb unmalted wheat, and 1lb flaked oats, and the spices were the traditional coriander and orange peel, in case that matters. Thanks in advance!
I homebrew a Wit annually but I have only brewed this beer using the Wyeast Wit yeast: 3944. I would never have thought about using a Saison yeast (either 3711 or 3724) for brewing a Wit. You can certainly proceed using the 3724 you have but you will obtain a different beer than if you used a Wit yeast like 3944. Wyeast 3724 is a very expressive yeast and it will produce lots of fruity flavors (esters) and spicy flavors (phenols). You should also plan on being very patient here since this yeast can take a long time (e.g., 4-5 weeks or even more) for this yeast to reach final gravity. The resulting beer will be a Saison vs. a Wit. Cheers!
Pitch the 3724! You'll get what you'll get (which might turn out to be quite good ), but you don't want to leave that wort sitting. Also, if it ferments cooler than usual that might actually help you as it won't give off so many esters. If it doesn't kick in you can always add the 001 as back-up. You should start your smack pack a day or two earlier, but I'm sure you know that now! And I always like to use it to make a small starter in a growler as well. Some will argue with me, but I feel you can never pitch too much yeast (unless you're seriously pitching TOO MUCH YEAST - if you can't fit your slurry in your fermenter that's too much ).
How soon do you want to drink this beer? 3724 can take 4-7 weeks to finish. If you want it to finish in 2-3 weeks, I suggest pitching the 3724 today and buying another pack of 3711 tomorrow. Two packs of yeast is closer to pitching enough yeast. One pack without a starter is an underpitch. They work well together and you can ferment in the 60s no problem. It's a saison with wit spices and it will taste fine. Or you could pitch 3724 and buy an actual Wit yeast tomorrow. My next beer is similar. It will have Dupont dregs and 3711 with a little coriander. No orange peel because Ahtanum will be bringing the orange.
I went ahead and pitched the 3724. I was thinking pitching 3711 later would be an option, so I may do that, but I have enough to do that I'm not sure I can make it back to NB before they close today. I have to decide how patient I want to be. I haven't been brewing long enough to have much of a pipeline built up, but I don't want that to affect my thinking too much. I only have 4 gallons in the fermenter (by design), so I don't think it's too much of an underpitch. I hope this turns out ok, because the wort was really, really delicious. This was the first time I finished a hydrometer sample pre-fermentation. My original thinking on the 3711 was that if fermented cool it would be similar to a wit and that it would be a much more versatile yeast to have around if harvested. I'm fine with this turning out more saison-like, and I still think it has the potential to be pretty good.
I split a batch of wit between saison and wit yeasts every year and dryhop the saison with Nelson. It's tasty and wins medals. Do the saison.
3711 fermented cool doesn't taste like a Wit yeast. It would have leather and black pepper notes. 3724 will produce a result closer to a Wit because it has some clove. So consider this a happy accident!
