I sampled a saison that is finishing up and it seems to have a high amount of fusel alcohols present. So much so that the small sample I tasted gave me a headache quickly. I have no experience with this in my beer.
The beer was brewed on 7/29 and fermented with one packet of Belle Saison starting at 68F for the first couple of days and then rising to about 71F where it has been sitting for days. I assume fermentation temperature is not the issue. OG was 1.052 and it is at 1.004 now.
Is this simply a case of the beer is young and needs some time? Will it dissipate with time?
I have not packaged yet but was planning to do so in a couple of days if the FG remains stable. I know a lot of people let their saisons go for some time to ensure that it doesn’t continue to slowly drop but I have never felt the need to do that with this yeast. Any enlightenment would be appreciated.
Thanks. It is what I perceive as fusel alcohols however I could easily be wrong. It has a decent amount of rye which I don’t use often either so it could just be a flavor profile that I am not that familiar with for such a young beer. Right off the bat, I ruled out fermentation temp as a cause.
I dislike the character I get from Belle Saison (and 3711) in general, but I like the glycerol production I get from them. Kind of peppery/spicy and one dimensional, and not enough fruit character. Perhaps it’s just a yeast character thing, unless you’ve used Belle before and this time is a one-off. Blaugies yeast at elevated temps is where I find my preference.
Yep personal preference. I prefer 3711/Belle Saison although I am probably in the minority. It may have to do with the fact that I don’t drink or brew many saisons and am mainly looking for a peppery and citrusy character. I think I find more enjoyment in the simplicity.
I have a belle saison grisette-ish beer fermenting at 80f as we speak. Wonder how that will turn out. Wanted to use a yeast that could handle summer room temperatures due to my chest freezers being tied up with lagers.
Yeah my goal was to let this pop up above room temperature but it never happened. It was pretty much done by day 4 and there wasn’t enough activity to raise the temp since I control temps from a cooling standpoint only.
As an aside: 3726 handles those temps (and higher), perfectly splendidly. I’m drinking a standard-strength saison fermented up at 90F with 3726 and it’s remarkable! I pitch at 72 and wrap with blanket at room temp. Give it 24 hours to go where it wants (usually ends up 82-85F), and then use heat tape to push it up to 90F over 12 hours; so at 36hrs post-pitch I’m at 90F. Leave there for 2.5 days, and keg with priming sugar. Give it about 5-10 days to carb up and then to kegerator it goes for drinking. With a higher gravity/abv recipe I may only let it get as high as 85F, but for standard-strength this fermentation profiles works well for me.