This Saison is a stubborn brew... ???

[DublinOhioBrewer]

Ok so... i brewed a Brewers Best Belgian Saison partial mash kit back on Feb 11th...

Went into the fermenter and sat around 67 or 68 for aboit 7 days. Airlock activity stopped and the krausen fell (it never really got very thick... never over an inch that i saw). I believe i was pretty low on my OG... after a couple days i noticed this on the inside walls of my plastic carboy:

Needless to say... id never seen that before... so it was a little alarming... but... i RDWHAHB... at day 8 i gave the fermenter a bit of a swirl... some new airlock activity started but was short lived. The krausen had dropped after the swirl but at day 8 it was back again.

Its now day 11 and its still there... with lots of what appear to be flakes (could that be the flaked wheat?):

I dont know if this is an infection or typical of belle Saison yeast... or if theres some other kind of problem.

Below is the recipe and instructions i used:

Anyone have any ideas or advice on what to do next?

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Your second image is yeast rafts... Looks fine. Sometimes saison goes slowly. What to do next? Let the yeast do their work, have patience. Do you know what your OG was?

 

[DublinOhioBrewer]

It was bad... like 1.03. I had issues with my thermometer (which didnt survive the flight across the kitchen) and messed up the partial mash temp

 

[deks77]

Belle yeast, it was probably done 3 days ago.. Looks pretty typical. Those look like yeast rafts, if you gently tap on the side of your carboy you might see some fall. Or just leave it and they'll eventually drop. Those generic instructions kinda suck for the saison, ferment that stuff warm. I live in Florida and just keep it at room temperature. I've tried stepping the temps, but really didn't notice much difference.

 

[DublinOhioBrewer]

I raise the temperature up to 75 degrees a couple days ago with my heating pad wrapped around it. They're still there. Will cold crashing it drop them out of suspension?

 

[deks77]

They might but without knowing what your FG is i'd tap and wait.. I know the waiting kills me lol

 

[DublinOhioBrewer]

I'll go ahead and take a gravity reading. Give me a minute

 

[DublinOhioBrewer]

About 1.006

 

[DublinOhioBrewer]

Which means Im well below my final gravity as I expected

 

[ancientmariner52]

Looks like about 3.14% abv. Saisons were intended to refresh and rejuvenate your field hands, not put them on their backs under a shade tree. If it tastes good, you done good!

 

[DublinOhioBrewer]

I tried the gravity sample and it wasn't too awful bad. It tastes like a Saison. It's going to be a little low on the ABV and it's got some off flavors in it but it's not terrible. I can drink it LOL

I've got an Amber that I've brought up to 71 to let the yeast clean up after itself and then I'll just cold crash both of them together and keg them

 

[Hoppy2bmerry]

Did you correct for temperature on your gravity readings? Glad it tastes good and is drinkable. Some of those off flavors you notice may change as the yeast "cleans up" after itself. Give it time, then clod crash if you want.

 

[SoCal-Doug]

Most saison yeast's like it hot. Typically 85 to 90 for the real and classic saison funk. Punch that cow! The whole "everything must be fermented below 70" mantra/myth/wives-tale has nothing to do with saisons. Fermenting it cold, you should just use an ale yeast, it wont taste any different.

But seriously... It was probably done days ago anyway.

 

[RM-MN]

My first batch with Belle Saison kept fermenting with a small krausen for 3 weeks. I finally did some reading and found that it liked it warm so I brought it to 80F and it finished at 0.997 at the third day. Warm yours up, way up.

Final gravity estimates for a saison are usually way off. You aren't below the expected FG yet.

 

[DublinOhioBrewer]

I'll pop it up to 80 degrees when I get home and see what happens. I think it's done fermenting anyways but who knows. I mean am I really going to reactivate the yeast at this point anyways?

 

[ericbw]

A

My first batch with Belle Saison kept fermenting with a small krausen for 3 weeks. I finally did some reading and found that it liked it warm so I brought it to 80F and it finished at 0.997 at the third day. Warm yours up, way up.

Final gravity estimates for a saison are usually way off. You aren't below the expected FG yet.

0.997 is pretty low for any beer. I bet it tasted awful (But to each his/her own!)

 

[RM-MN]

A


0.997 is pretty low for any beer. I bet it tasted awful (But to each his/her own!)

It did taste awful and I was tempted to dump it but after 6 months in the bottle it came around and I liked it then, enough to brew the same recipe again.