New Danstar Belle Saison Dry Yeast?

[boswell]

Planning on a simple saison using this yeast, anyone having issues with bottle priming? Either over or under carbonation? It seems like the yeast is a beast.

 

[RachmaelBenApplebaum]

Not belle saison but 3711, Mostly the problem was it sat for 2 months in primary and it didn't carb as FAST as usual, but after the wait it's fantastic.

 

[pwortiz]

Planning on a simple saison using this yeast, anyone having issues with bottle priming? Either over or under carbonation? It seems like the yeast is a beast.

I also have been wondering. I have 3 batches going with it right now and hope to bottle the first today. It's been 17 days or so in primary. I need to do another reading to verify it's all done. 1.003 is what I had on Monday from 1.052.

My basement is 80 flippin degrees so if it's gonna keep goin in the bottles, I do not want a mess of flying glass and beer everywhere.

 

[mb82]

I think the overcarbing issue is normally caused by people bottling too early. As I have read Saison yeasts can whip through most of the sugar quick but then can take a while to get through those last few points. So people bottle when they think the beer is ready, they carb to a high level and then the yeast eats the rest of the sugar in the beer.

My first use of bell saison has only been carbing for 2 weeks, I cracked one open last night and it was carbed like a 2 week old bottle should be carbed. Carbed but not quiet there.

 

[piteko]

Planning on a simple saison using this yeast, anyone having issues with bottle priming? Either over or under carbonation? It seems like the yeast is a beast.

No problem at all. Brewed it the 8th of May, fermented for 2 weeks, coldcrash for 2 extra weeks, bottled the 8th of June. Carbed at 2,2atm, let it rest for another month at 24°C because I like to let the beer fully condition. OG 1038, FG 1000.

Cheers from Italy!
Piteko

 

[jturkish]

so what's the consensus on this yeast?

high temps = fruity tastes?

low temps = spices?

or is it the other way around? I'd like more citrus out of it, what temp should i aim for?

 

[piteko]

so what's the consensus on this yeast?

high temps = fruity tastes?

low temps = spices?

or is it the other way around? I'd like more citrus out of it, what temp should i aim for?

I just brewed with this yeast two beers made from the same malt bill, 25 liters splitted:
- 5 liters without spices;
- 20 liters with coriander and dried orange peel.
They were from the same mash, I took the 5 liters just before putting in the spices (10 mins).
The 5 liters batch started fermenting at 20°C and done the most at 25°C.
The 20 liters batch started fermenting at 18°C, done the most at 20°C and finished at 22°C.

The 20 liters batch has the spices but it's more single sided and more refresing. The 5 liters batch hasn't got the spices in the recipe but it's spicier than the other. It's more full, more rounded. Pepper is the one that comes out more. So it seems like that the warmer you go, the fuller you get.

If you aim to something citrusy, I think you have to add it from the hops and if you want it to be a refreshing beer, keep it on the cold side of the ale.

Pitched 1 package only for the whole 25 liters.

Hope it helps!
Cheers from Italy!
Piteko

 

[BradleyBrew]

Yeast is amazing. Kegged my session saison about a week ago. Pitched at *68 degrees in a fermchamber and let it rise over the course of 5 days to *78. Perfect saison flavor and I will be using it again. May try a tripel and keep the yeast under 70.

 

[mcspanner]

I brewed a variation of a mixed grain saison on Monday and used this. Pitched rehydrated into 30°c (86°f) wort and let it go where it wanted in my dining room without temp control. Peaked at 34°c (93.2°f) on Tuesday then dropped off during the week to 22°c (71.6°f) today when I took my hydrometer sample. Not sure if it has finished yet but was 1.004 and tastes great, perfect balance of cloves and lemon rind with a slight peppery finish.

SWMBO had a sniff (won't taste until its carbed in case the fact that it is flat puts her off the finished beer) and said " ooh that smells like Leffe blonde or Duvel" which I didn't quite get myself but indicates that it's got fairly classic Belgian notes going on in there.

Will report on how it finishes as I'm (so far) very pleased.

Edit: I only used one pack and starting gravity was 1.048 which brewers friend calculates at 87.5% attenuation

 

[mcspanner]

Here it is after 5 days in the bottle. Nice head from "enthusiastic" pour but not yet carbed to 2vol. Tastes great, can't wait to get some more life in there. I'll give it another week.

 

[misterc]

I've used this at ~90F and the result was amazing ... all kinds of goodness !!

 

[sweetcell]

my plan was to use the Belle Saison after my Dupont strain crapped out (i'm not patient, i want my saison NOW). the Dupont stalled as expected. i made the mistake of sprinkling the B.S. directly on to the wort. the B.S. never took off. i thought that 3% ABV wouldn't be a problem, apparently it was. i ended up getting a pack of 3711, making a starter and pitching it while the yeast were still active - worked great. the B.S. probably would have worked too had i made a starter with them first.

so i ended up wasting the Belle Saison. luckily it came free in my NHC bag. i typically only brew one saison a year so it's unlikely i'm going to give this another try. my bad.

 

[samwhois]

The Dupont strains are so worth the wait my friend! I just made a Grissette (light session saison at 1038 OG) and pitched a Super 1090 saison on the cake. I did split batch with White Labs Saison I & II on other 5 gallons. Let the Grissette ferment in the 90s and finish at 1002. There is something pretty magical about the Dupont strain. The beer is very dry yet has something silky or even leaves some crazy type of malty sweetness. I am hoping the super saison turns out the same. I think the key to getting the Dupont strain to ferment out is time and using DAP as a yeast nutrient. In the farmhouse ale book (which I have read several times) he talks about the saison yeast strain possibly being a cousin to wine yeast. So the DAP is helpful for yeast performance. Have had great success with my saisons after using DAP. Was hoping to get one more saison for the Summer but alas we have had a very cool August here in Illinois (highs in the 70s!) So my dear saisons are going to be peppery instead of the usual fruitiness I get with my hot fermentation temps. If you are interested check out my presentation to my local homebrew club at the link below. Will keep you posted on the super saison. Going to let it ferment for at least one month (in primary)

http://gonzobrewers.13858.x6.nabble.com/Upcoming-meetings-what-will-be-the-goings-on-td5000653.html

 

[sweetcell]

thanks for the tip on the DAP, will try that next time.

 

[IslandLizard]

I finally got to use the Belle Saison yeast that came in the NHC bag.

Adapted a found Saison recipe and besides the 8 lbs of 2-row and 1.5 lbs of various cara malts, I included 2 pounds of Red Wheat Malt (17%). After careful re-hydration I pitched the Belle Saison at 80°F on Tuesday 8/13 @ 4:00 a.m., and let it naturally rise to 86.5°F during the first day and night. It cooled off to 75° by the end of today, the 3rd day.

Belle Saison yeast in a Belgian Saison after 18 hours. Fermentation Temp is 85.6°F. Krausen has already fallen.

Starting with an OG of 1.062, I just took a sample and it's down to 1.010 already in less than 72 hours! The gravity sample tastes amazing, and very witbeer like. Definitely bananas, some cloves, perhaps some phenolics, not sure what to taste for with those, and some complex esters (fruitiness). It is still active so I'll let it ride a few more days. I might split it up and sour half of it. Any suggestions?

This is a very promising yeast. The re-hydration procedure seems picky but important. There is only a narrow temperature range and the yeast can't be re-hydrated in wort, only water. The instructions provided, even on DanStar's website are incomplete. I extrapolated it with the one given for Notty. First you hydrate without stirring for half an hour. Then you must stir it to dissolve all the yeast, and let it sit another 10 minutes, before you pitch. Pitching directly into wort may kill it.

After I rack this off I'll start another one with some of the harvested yeast.

 

[berebrando]

This is a very promising yeast. The re-hydration procedure seems picky but important. There is only a narrow temperature range and the yeast can't be re-hydrated in wort, only water. The instructions provided, even on DanStar's website are incomplete. I extrapolated it with the one given for Notty. First you hydrate without stirring for half an hour. Then you must stir it to dissolve all the yeast, and let it sit another 10 minutes, before you pitch. Pitching directly into wort may kill it.

Thanks for posting this information!

 

[IslandLizard]

Thanks for posting this information!

You're welcome, I was puzzled by the language on the yeast envelope, as if words and sentences had dropped out. What happened to proofreading?
The temperature range for re-hydration is very narrow, 86-92°F. More so, the pitching temps of the wort and yeast slurry needs to be within 10°C:

Temperature shock, at greater than 10°C (50°F[*]), will cause formation of petite mutants...
​

* Note the useless and incorrect temperature conversion to °F.

Description and Instructions for Belle Saison Yeast

Fill in the blanks with this one:
Nottingham Ale Yeast

Keeping this in mind, you end up with a wonderful Saison yeast, in an easy to use and store dry form.

I had added 1/2 oz of fresh red grapefruit zest at flame out, and the hydrometer sample smelled and tasted very grapefruity, almost to the point I was afraid I had overdone it: "Darn that stuff is potent." The 1.010 sample has none of this left, either stripped away, masked or playing a supporting role.

 

[Mikethepoolguy]

I dumped a1.063 wort onto a fresh yeast cake 11 days ago. I checked it today and it is at 1.000 and tastes great. Cloudy and still bubbling, probably co2. I may secondary to clear. If the cold, carbed beer tastes as good as the warm, flat sample I may have to make this an on tap standard at my house.

 

[m3n00b]

So this is my first saison. Everything Ive read says not to worry about temp control so I'm trying not to. Brewed yesterday. Pitched at 75. Today its up to 84. Should I be worried about fusels or anything like that? I want the fruity esters. Should I set my ferm chamber to 80?

 

[orangemen5]

So this is my first saison. Everything Ive read says not to worry about temp control so I'm trying not to. Brewed yesterday. Pitched at 75. Today its up to 84. Should I be worried about fusels or anything like that? I want the fruity esters. Should I set my ferm chamber to 80?

I fermented mine at 90-95. No fusels. No fruity esters but I wasn't going for fruity. Taste awesome though.

 

[m3n00b]

I fermented mine at 90-95. No fusels. No fruity esters but I wasn't going for fruity. Taste awesome though.

Thanks. Can you describe the taste a bit?

 

[mcspanner]

Thanks. Can you describe the taste a bit?

I did this too, taste is quite clove and pepper, just a touch of lemon zest.

 

[m3n00b]

So its been up to 86 and has died down to 84. I smell a ton of banana when I open my chamber.

 

[mcspanner]

So its been up to 86 and has died down to 84. I smell a ton of banana when I open my chamber.

Yes, I wouldn't worry about that too much. Almost all the banana I got from it was during early fermentation, I put it down to just the smell of fermentation with this yeast. No banana evident in the finished beer. Have to say I love this yeast and will definitely use again.

 

[m3n00b]

Yes, I wouldn't worry about that too much. Almost all the banana I got from it was during early fermentation, I put it down to just the smell of fermentation with this yeast. No banana evident in the finished beer. Have to say I love this yeast and will definitely use again.

I can't wait to taste it. Never was the biggest fan of saisons but it was something new and I wanted to try it.

 

[m3n00b]

Well I just tasted the hydro sample at 5 days. Definitely different. I almost get a numbing sensation on the tongue from it. Strange. Very spicy. Went from 1.052 down to 1.006.

 

[Mikethepoolguy]

I just moved mine to secondary to floc. SG: .999

 

[mb82]

I fermented at around 66 and I get getting fruity like a white wine with a little clove at the end. This was a Session saison that went from 1.037 to 1.004. A little higher then I thought it would hit but right on the numbers that Beersmith said it would. I am planning on a bigger saison with it in the future once I get settled into my new apartment.

 

[brewhaha_rva]

Just cracked a Saison with this yeast.
(FYI)
Grain bill: 9 lbs pilsner
1 lb white wheat
8 oz Vienna

1 oz Styrian Goldings (Bittering)
1 oz Tettnanger (Aroma)

Belle Saison yeast

Tasting notes:

Smells like apricot, peach and lemon. Tastes of citrus, summer fruit. Very peppery and spicy. Very funky beer. I like it.

How do you all think this would work in a dubbel?

 

[bd2xu]

This sounds like a great, simple saison recipe.

For a dry packet of yeast it works great.

 

[m3n00b]

Just cracked a Saison with this yeast.
(FYI)
Grain bill: 9 lbs pilsner
1 lb white wheat
8 oz Vienna

1 oz Styrian Goldings (Bittering)
1 oz Tettnanger (Aroma)

Belle Saison yeast

Tasting notes:

Smells like apricot, peach and lemon. Tastes of citrus, summer fruit. Very peppery and spicy. Very funky beer. I like it.

How do you all think this would work in a dubbel?

What temps did you ferment at?

 

[brewhaha_rva]

That's a good question. I decided to give the yeast hell. Pitched it at 85 and it fermented between 77 and 83. Left it in a room without A/C.

 

[sweetcell]

How do you all think this would work in a dubbel?

might work but i don't think it's the best yeast for a dubbel. i'd be concerned about it being too spicy, and too attenuated. you can try managing these (ferment cool, mash a little higher, maybe throw in a few extra crystals and cut down on sugar)... but at some point it's just better to get the right yeast for the job instead of trying to shoe-horn a yeast into a style.

but i've never tried so i'm talking off the top of my head (or out my rear). if you have a go at it, please let us know how it works out!

 

[m3n00b]

Just tasted my saison after 2 weeks fermenting at 86f+. Wow. Some really complex flavors. Very tart and spicy. Going to cold crash this week and bottle next week.

 

[EmeraldTab]

What is the proper rehydration/starter method for this yeast? The instructions seem a bit vague...

Thanks

 

[mcspanner]

What is the proper rehydration/starter method for this yeast? The instructions seem a bit vague...

Thanks

I believe there are some specific instructions a few posts back in this thread but I just rehydrated in 30°c water about 35 minutes before pitching and made sure that I didn't shock the yeast by pitching at as close a temp to the wort as I could manage.

 

[m3n00b]

It put it in 87f water for 15min....stirred and left for 10 min. I didn't temper it and just dumped it right into my 85f wort and left it in my hot ass garage to ferment.

 

[te-wa]

im gonna use this yeast after reading about 6 pages on this thread i made up my mind.. LOL!
so, i take it should go something like this: pitch into saison at 75, let it sit at 75 for 36 hours, then slowly ramp up to around 82-83 until it finishes? (maybe a week)

also, i plan to make an extract using about 3oz of freeze dried acai berry, and a cinnamon stick (in 1c vodka). thoughts?

 

[samwhois]

whoa tiger! I would maybe not do the cinnamon stick. One cinnamon stick probably won't ass much but might not be too bad. Saison yeasts typically have enough going on with them to not add too much. I have brewed plain saisons and people thought I added too much ginger, and I added no ginger at all. I would maybe just stick with the acai and then add some more appropriate saison spices like ginger, corriander, and pepper. Or just do a plain one to get a feel for the yeast. I ferment mine at mid 90s temps and thos always have great aromatics and plenty of spice like flavors.

 

[bd2xu]

I'd agree on the cinnamon. I don't think it has a place in saison but in a fall/winter pumpkin ale or porter yes. If you want to get more creative with saison I'd look to citrus fruits, I zested a grapefruit rind into my last batch and it was great. Maybe some other spices but cinnamon is pretty forward.