Do I bottle or not?? 3711 Saison

I have a mixed grain Saison in the FV at the moment, it's been there 16 days. I used Wyeast 3711 (French Saison), which is supposed to be able to ferment through pretty much anything.

Temperature has been 20-22c (68-72f) the whole time, recommended temperature for this yeast is 18-25c so it's well within range.

OG was 1.043 (only got 59% efficiency), and the gravity currently is 1.012-1.013, giving an apparent attenuation of around 70% - this yeast is supposed to do 77-83%, so I was expecting an FG around the 1.010 mark. Apparently it often ferments down to 1.009.

The hydrometer sample tasted pretty good, couldn't detect much residual sweetness or anything.

If I bottle, I figure I might get bottle bombs? Or should I try raising the temperature to 24c and leaving it another couple of days? Was hoping to get it bottled tonight as SWMBO is out...

Raise the temp and swirl it up! Be patient and let it get through those last few points

My last 3711 went to 1.002. Do not bottle until it is stable.

Blimey, 1.002 - that's low!

OK I'll crack the temperature up and give it a rouse. I've not done a Saison before.

Thanks for the quick replies!

bobmcstuff said:

Blimey, 1.002 - that's low!

OK I'll crack the temperature up and give it a rouse. I've not done a Saison before.

Thanks for the quick replies!

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They don't call it the Destroyer for nothing.

Do not bottle this yet! I have had 2 batches severely over carbonate using this yeast.

It is not done yet unless you had a wierd recipe.

Every time I use 3711 it gets down to the 1.002-1.004 range. Even when I did extract brews it even took an extract batch down to 1.006.

The recipe could have gone weird I suppose, it was my 5th attempt at mashing and my efficiency was lower than normal - I didn't think I'd done anything different to usual but if my efficiency was down I guess I must have. Maybe the mash temp was off (I was monitoring it, but maybe I misread it) and I got a load of unfermentable sugars.

Anyway, I've put the temperature up to 24c (75f) and roused it so we'll see if it goes down.

Tasted promising though, hope it goes alright.

bobmcstuff said:

The recipe could have gone weird I suppose, it was my 5th attempt at mashing and my efficiency was lower than normal - I didn't think I'd done anything different to usual but if my efficiency was down I guess I must have. Maybe the mash temp was off (I was monitoring it, but maybe I misread it) and I got a load of unfermentable sugars.

Anyway, I've put the temperature up to 24c (75f) and roused it so we'll see if it goes down.

Tasted promising though, hope it goes alright.

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What was your mash temp? That will determine how ferment able a wort you have. If you mashed too high it will limit attenuation and raise the FG

bobmcstuff said:

The recipe could have gone weird I suppose, it was my 5th attempt at mashing and my efficiency was lower than normal - I didn't think I'd done anything different to usual but if my efficiency was down I guess I must have. Maybe the mash temp was off (I was monitoring it, but maybe I misread it) and I got a load of unfermentable sugars.

Anyway, I've put the temperature up to 24c (75f) and roused it so we'll see if it goes down.

Tasted promising though, hope it goes alright.

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What sort of thermometer do you have? Have you calibrated it recently?

I mashed my last saison at 156 and 3711 still took it to 1.004.

I'm usually pretty methodical when brewing so I was just thinking of reasons why I might not get full attenuation.

According to my notes my mash temp was between 66-68c, which is apparently 150.8-154.4 fahrenheit.

I used my STC-1000 for the mash as well as for fermentation control, and it is calibrated against ice water and 2 different glass thermometers (themselves calibrated against ice water and boiling water). I only use the STC for the mash because it's easier to read from the digital display than the glass thermometers.

Thinking about it the reduction in efficiency is probably because I didn't squeeze the bag out as much as usual (this was a small batch BIAB).

Anyway, time will tell. The temperature was reading 23.8c this morning and the room smelled distinctly beer-y so we'll see.

Seems to be a point or so down.

I'm away for work all week as usual, so won't get to check it till Friday.

Bottled today at 1.002!!

Cheers guys.

bobmcstuff said:

Bottled today at 1.002!!

Cheers guys.

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All of us that use that yeast often knew it wasn't done at 1.012.

1.002 is very normal for 3711. Enjoy your brew....