Quick reply needed saison yeast

[BigWilley]

I finally brewed too small a batch to hit the probe in the unitank and I'm debating on wether to top it off with water enough to hit the probe tomorrow or just let it go with intermittent cooling from the jackets. Its an 18.6P Belgian that is using the Whte labs saison II. I know this yeast can go pretty warm, but I dont really have a clue as to how much heat this fermentation will generate.
Its an 8 BBL batch in a 15BBL tank pitched at 75F. I have access to one of those infared(?) thermometers that measures surface temps, so I might be able to get a decent reading off the manway surface, or I'll just pull samples.
Any thoughts? I'd probably have to add a BBL or less of water if I go that route.

[beerking1]

I have only brewed it as a homebrewer, but I like to start my Saison cool and let the fermentation naturally ramp it up. I will even help it with a heat wrap to ensure it gets to ~85F towards the end of high krausen. I used the WL Saison I, and added the WLP 99, Super high Gravity at the end to dry it out.
May only be homebrew, but it was good enough to take a 1st in the first round of the National homebrew Comp (wish me luck for next week!).

[lhall]

Man, let that thing go. We brewed a saison last year, first batch knocked out at 80F and left the jackets off. It never got hotter than 87 F and we didn't think we got all the character the yeast has. So we brewed another batch, knocked out this one about 88F, and it got up to around 95 F. We really liked the juicy fruit in this one, even though we ended up blending both batches.

[BigWilley]

Thanks Linus. I decided to let it fly and two days later its around 9P and 84F through the sample port. Im not worried. Good to know it can go even higher though. Most of my best Belgians were pretty warm so Im feelin good on this batch. Thanks again, I'll let you know how it comes out!

[mr.jay]

Do a search for Saison on this sight and you will see the number of times this has happened. The general consensus is, let it go. Mine hit 98 degrees two weeks ago, and it finished out at 1.6P. Tastes PFG IMHO!

[lhall]

The yeast we used got down to 4 P in about 4-5 days, then took forever to get down to 3 P where it called it quits.

[jjs]

I don't 3 plato is bad at all. Mine was 3.2. I actually prefer mine to Saison Dupont because it's soooo dry. I'd love to know what your customers think about it. Everyone I've spoken with likes it but it's not selling very well. Think next year for my summer Belgain I'll go back to a Tripple. I really perfer this style. I can have more than 1 pint. Hope your's is good!

[BigWilley]

Im at the creeper stage now, 4.5P and still getting some minor action in the blow off. Same thing with the Saison I did on the first generation with this yeast but it only started at around 15P and got down to right around 2. I figure this one will make it down to about 3P in the next couple weeks. The Saison tastes great and should be going on tap tomorrow!

[Capt. Bob]

Saison yeast is also very sensitive to even the slightest pressure.
For your blow-off, use only enough water in the bucket to cover the end of the hose. Sounds nuts, but it makes a difference. I pitch around 80F and it ramps-up to 90F in about 24 hours. Three generations in, it will reach FG in a week all by itself. Don't let it go below 80F or it will crash, or at least come to a crawl.

Bob
Saint Somewhere

[BigWilley]

Thanks for the tip. I will be using it one more generation at least when I attempt a Belgian Quad. The yeast got off to a rocky start, I ordered a 1 Bbl pitch and put it into 1 Bbl of wort with plans to brew on top of it the next day. The boiler went down and it sat a week and a half before I put the Saison (10 Bbl) on top of it. So far so good though.

[BigWilley]

Update: The beer finished off at 2.1P quite a bit lower than I figured, but it tastes good at this stage (2weeks). I'm going to brew the Quad tomorrow. The previous batch has been chilled so hopefully I'll get a decent yeast crop. Not much from the first generation, but it did well 18.6 to 2.1 in 13 days.

[BigWilley]

The Quad came in at 24P with no sugar additions. Got another crappy harvest but so far it has worked out. Going to send it over at 85F and see what happens. This time I should hit the probe though!