I plan on brewing this saison. I have not used WY3711 before. How aggressive is this yeast? WY3068 surprised me by almost getting into the airlock of a 6 gallon fermentor even with temp control.
For the Petite Saison with WY3711 can I let the fermentation go uncontrolled to get the saison characteristics? My brew room has an ambient temperature of 68°.
Is this kit best underpitched or overpitched?
3711 is a beast, my last saison got down to 1.002. Some prefer the ramp it up method, by starting at mid 60s temp and raising to the 70s after a few days. I prefer pitching at 78* or so and just letting it go. I’ve done both and much prefer the higher temps, although you will get differing opinions on this.
I’ve pitched and maintained 3711 at 62F, and it came out very peppery. I’ve also pitched and maintained it at about 72F and it came out much fruitier. I’ve also tried the ramp it up approach. I don’t believe that this yeast needs to be ramped up. Other saison yeasts may need this approach in some instances in order to get down to a terminal gravity or to develop flavors, but not 3711 IMO. If it was me, I’d try to cool it down a little (like 68F fementation temp, rather than ambient temp) and just let it go until it’s done.
I’ll ferment this one in the low 60° range. Will my standard 6 gallon carboy be sufficient for the vigor of the yeast in this temperature range? I have the option of using a 7.5 gallon carboy for extra headspace if it is needed.
I think you should be fine on your headspace, but if you have the option of going to the larger one, I don’t think it can hurt.
I personally love 3711, but I really dig subtlety in my saison flavors/aromas, which is what you will get from a low 60’s ferment, or low/mid-60’s and ramp-up. I think the reason I like saisons that are at least pitched low is that I seem to have a very low palette threshold for fusels, and I get them when people do the ‘hot’ ferment thing with saisons. To me the style should be a bone-dry summer beer that can be poured cool-to-cold, and as it warms, you really start to perceive some of the nuances. I don’t dig phenols and esters slapping me in the face with this style, but some do.
To the earlier points, 3711 is definitely a beast. It will chew through just about everything and leave you with a nice dry beer. :cheers:
+1 to the above.
I just fermented out this same beer a few months ago.
It finished at 1.001!
I was expecting .008 or .010.
I suddenly had a 6.5% brew!
It’s a great yeast.
I fermented at 66-68 the whole time. No ramp up.
Thank you for the good information. I can hold SA-05 to a max of 64° with a swamp cooler and fan during the summer in my brew room. I’ll try the same with the WY3711. Hopefully it is not so aggressive it will produce more heat than the SA-05.
With the 3711, higher temps are actually ideal. Upper 60’s is where I kept mine. I put the fermentors upstairs in the closet instead of downstairs on the concrete floor.
Worked great.
