So on my last order, Northern Brewer sent me extra yeast. Not sure if it was by mistake, or whether they were just being really cool because I had a big order (A bunch of equipment, ended up being ~$300 for most parts to upgrade to AG).
I had bought the Saison de Noel kit, and didn’t end up using the yeast that came with it (Wyeast 3726 Farmhouse Ale), due to not knowing how to attain the extremely high temperatures, and ended up using Safbrew T-58.
My dilemma is this. I now have 2 vials of San Francisco Lager yeast, and one smack pouch of Wyeast 3726 to use, and don’t know what to brew with them. I don’t have the infrastructure (fermentation chamber) to do a real lager.
In my experience (2 batches done, one underway), you don’t need crazy high temperatures with 3726. 3724 maybe (although I’ve never had problems), but not 3726. Any saison recipe (even something simple like pilsner malt and sugar) should be fine.
For the San Fran lager yeast, if you can get your fermentation temps into the mid-60s, you should be fine. If not, you could still try it in something like a cali common or Am. pale ale, but results could be hit or miss.
Don’t know where you live, but a cooler with water and some ice bottles in with it will get you in the right temp range for that lager yeast (got one fermenting like this now at 57*). So go for it, just switch out a frozen water bottle when it needs it. As for the other yeast, I have no knowledge of it but if you need the extra heat, I guess you could use a heating pad and a blanket. Good luck!!!
