I am planning on brewing the saison de noel extract kit this weekend. I noticed on the wyeast package that it recommends an OG of up to 1.060. Is a yeast starter necessary since the OG of Saison de noel is 1.070? My plan is to ferment in my chamber at about 80 degrees. Then secondary at room temp. Any other suggestions would be appreciated. This recipe sounds very interesting and I would like it to turn out perfect.
If you have the ability to do a starter then do one, otherwise you risk the chance of it not coming out perfect since you will be underpitching yeast.
Ability being that you have access to some malt extract and a growler or something to put it in. I just know that not everybody has access to a LHBS and have to use online retailers.
Also not sure what yeast you are using, but are planning on fermenting at 80*F the entire time, or ramping up a few degrees each day? I’ve heard of being done both ways.
Also, not sure of the recipe, but because you are brewing extract it will not finish as low as somebody who brews all grain. typically a saison is dry and finish at 1.010 or lower. Maybe add some extra sugar to the brew if it already doesn’t call for it.
The yeast is Wyeast 3726. I will most likely just leave fermentor at 80 degrees for 2 weeks. here is link to NB recipe.
http://www.northernbrewer.com/documenta ... deNoel.pdfJust go with what you are planning, BUT make sure you prepare a starter. I would say to do it asap today.
I’ve go the AG version of this going now, I started about two weeks ago with a two liter starter and it’s actually down to about 1.010 now, which is a good 10 points lower than I would have predicted or hoped for. I’m guessing that I mashed a little low, although the directions called to 150, and I’m pretty sure that’s right where I was.
Anyway, yes, you should do a starter for any beer with an OG over 1.050 or so (some would say 1.060). The general rule of thumb I’ve seen is one liter for 1.050 - 1.060 and two liters for 1.060 and up.
This should be helpful:
http://drinks.seriouseats.com/2011/02/h ... -beer.htmlYou’ll still make beer if you pitch with no starter, but it is very easy to do and your results will be much better if you make a starter.
Thx for information and suggestions. I am in process of making starter. luckily there is a brew supply store not to far away.
So how this this turn out for you? I have the extract kit fermenting now. After eight days of fermenting she is at 1.014 (@81F OG was 1.072 @72F). It tastes pretty good to me now - I would not call it dry, but it isn’t overwhelmingly sweet either. I would not be unhappy if it did not get any drier than this.
I plan to move it to a secondary before bottling. If it is done at 1.014 do I have to worry about bottle bombs? I ask cuz I’m hoping/planning to give some away as xmas gifts, but I don’t to give anyone a gift that might explode.
Atoms, did you use a starter? I’m planning this brew next week, got the extract version with smackpack yeast. The times I have used Wyeast previously, I have not had to make a starter. But, I have not gone above 1.056 OG either.
Rambus
Mine is in the bottle now, I won’t be able to report on it for another week or so, but I did the all grain version and I used a 2 liter starter, and I would highly recommend that for any beer with an OG of 1.072.
Rambus,
I did not use starter. I’d seen it recommended before but I didn’t know what a starter was. It seems like the smack pack is a step in that direction on a smaller scale?
I’ll take another reading later today or tomorrow and try to remember to report back here.
(how does one quote another post in this forum? I’m not seeing a link or button or anything…)
When I first came here, the board was different. It changed about two months ago and I missed the quote buttons. Someone else, don’t remember who, showed me this. Go into your “User Control Panel”, select “Board Preferences” tab, scroll down to “My Board Style” and change it to “Prosilver”.
Let me know what your FG ends up being, Thanks!
Rambus
Tasted my first bottle tonight. It was five weeks old (2 weeks in primary, 2 weeks in secondary, 1 week in bottle).
Very young, but very good. A lot of esters, some of which should die down over time, and a little under carbonated, but that’s to be expected. Very deep, complex malt, nice hop balance.
I’m really looking forward to trying another bottle in a couple of weeks.
[quote=“sclinchy”]…
Very young, but very good. A lot of esters, some of which should die down over time, and a little under carbonated, but that’s to be expected. Very deep, complex malt, nice hop balance.
I’m really looking forward to trying another bottle in a couple of weeks.[/quote]
Great to hear! thanks. Today marks two weeks in the primary for my batch. It is at 1.010. I plan to move it to a secondary today. My plan is still to bottle in time to give some to people at xmas.
Mine ended up at about 1.010 as well. The recipe promised 1.022 as I recall.
We just kegged this so no tasting notes yet. We bumped ours up with a little LME because we mashed so damn low we got rubbish extract. Original gravity was 1.072. Final gravity, though, is 1.004, giving us almost a whopping 9%ABV. I think the combination of the very low mash temp and the LME made this highly fermentable, so I think it will have a decidedly different character from both what is intended and what people are finding. More soon…
There is nothing on the recipe that came with the extract kit about a final gravity.
I bottled on Saturday. The gravity was still at 1.010 after 12 days in a secondary. (I rushed it by a couple of days so that it would get a full two weeks in bottles by xmas eve.)
Everything I read about bottle conditioning says to do it at “room temperature”. But this assumes that we all have rooms within a certain comfort range or something? We keep our house pretty cool in the winter - unless we have company, most of the time it is in the low 60’s sometimes dipping below 60F. The bottles are in an interior closet and I’ve left an incandescent light on to add a few degrees of warmth. It has stayed above 65F in there, but is that warm enough?
Thanks for any insight you might want to share.
65*F may take longer than two weeks to fully carbonate but it is in the range for the yeast to still be active.
Hello everyone… Interesting thread here on the Saison de Noel.
I also am trying to figure this brew out. I am kind of a new home brewer as well but have gotten the hang of these extract kits… except for this one. My OG for this kit was 1.073 @ 73f. I kept it in the primary fermentation for 2 weeks where it looked like it had stopped. I then moved it to the secondary and kept it there for another 2 weeks and took a reading again which was then at 1.013 @74f. The taste was all not there for me as it tasted like a very young un-matured beer… estery and a bit dry… puckering the mouth a bit. So I let it sit for another week and a half and took another gravity reading. This time it was now at 1.010 @73f. It still tastes like it has not fully fermented yet. I am not sure as if i should let it sit longer because I know fermentation should have finished in the primary but then noticed a continuing fermentation in the secondary. What is the max amount of time that I should leave in the secondary?? I have not noticed the final SG move in a few days. If it is done… should I just bottle and accept the taste of an un-finished beer???
I just kegged mine after 2 weeks in both primary and secondary. My FG was 1.011-2. It seems still need much more time in the keg because it has the very strong alcohol taste from the esthers before getting to the normal robustness this beer is supposed to have.
Fermenting process was first day@80 degrees and the rest of the time at @68-70.
