my sasion

[arkador]

Well, my refractometer is here I calibrated it to 0 using distilled water, and i took a reading of my sasion, and am reading 12brix (1.048 spacific gravity) and has had no activity from the airlock for a couple days now.

I gave it a swirl 2 nights ago.

Does this sound like stuck fermentation? Should i concider repitching at this point, or ride it out?

[arkador]

appears to have a little more activity now (10 min later) since the lid was removed.

I am concidering racking it to my secondary with some rasberry juice. I suppose i could airate the heck out of the rasberry juice incase auration was the issue.

[gwbbc]

leave it alone, do not rack, according to promash its at 1035. you can rock the fermenter to re-suspend the yeast but don't rack till its below 1015, in fact don't rack ever, bottle or keg after about 3 to 5 weeks.

the saison yeast is real funny, it can rest for a week or two and then take off again.

i am at 1030 too.

[arkador]

http://www.fermsoft.com/gravbrix.php
and
http://www.brewheads.com/brixsg.php

is this not acurate?

[gwbbc]

Partially. Its correct for your starting gravity before fermentation has begun. It changes as soon as alcohol is present and then requires a formulation that uses the starting gravity and ending gravity. Promash has the formula in the fermentation section. The starting gravity was 1.066.

[mwedge]

As james mentioned I would rouse the yeast and let it go for a few more weeks and check the gravity. You could also consider raising the temp a bit. Heck Saison DuPont ferment their Saisons at 95 degrees. The saison yeast can be very finicky with stops and starts and very slow fermentation.

[arkador]

Like this?
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h137/arcadoc/hydro.jpg

Is there a utility that will alow me to calculate this, without having to buy software?

[TurboBrew]

Yeah, mines acting strange as well. Fermented like crazy for the first couple days, then just slowed to a crawl. No airlock activity, but as I've learned, using airlock activity to determine fermentation activity does not work. One of my first few beers, a hefeweizen, I bottled after seeing no airlock activity for a few days only to have overcarbonated, malty bottle bombs. Gross..

[mwedge]

Here is an online calculator that gives the gravity from refractometer readings with and without alcohol present:

http://onebeer.net/refractometer.shtml

[arkador]

I gave it a swirl last night, and got a little activity, and another this afternoon, which was followed by vigerous airlock activity (2 bubbles a second for about 15 seconds) and it is rolling away again, as fast as it ever had..

Thanks for the info, and the Refractometer info, all very helpful info!

[arkador]

Mmm, Looks good! Starting to clarify. Currently at 1.012 (just over 7%ABV)

[mwedge]

Great! Glad the gravity came down. That saison yeast is a bit finicky.

[Clint]

kegged mine last night... 1.010

but... I went experimental and used the safbrew 33 dry yeast

[TurboBrew]

Mine is still pretty hazy and randomly just start bubbling again...weird.

[mwedge]

That is very common for the Saison yeast. It can have lots of starts and stops.

[MightyCow9]

I figure I will leave mine in for a while. I still have a light layer of krausen at the top and the bubbling, however slow, has not stopped.

Maybe give it until the end of the weekend and take a quick reading.

[arkador]

Starting Gravity 1.066
Current gravity reading 1.012 (sunday and tonight)
Current ABV 7.04

Kegged and conditioning....

[mwedge]

Great. I had some saturday evening from Clint's and it was very tasty.

[MightyCow9]

My saison still hasn't gotten past 1.04. So I treated it like a woman who talks back. I shook the shit out of it and made it sleep in the garage. I will see if that helps.

[arkador]

I'll bring a growler of mine and my new Hefe recipe to the club meeting next month :D

[TurboBrew]

My saison still hasn't gotten past 1.04. So I treated it like a woman who talks back. I shook the shit out of it and made it sleep in the garage. I will see if that helps.

I prefer lashings with a stick, just make sure it's no bigger than your thumb.

[jayellis]

Mine would have taken the car keys and disappeared... :-)

[MightyCow9]

alright. Still no change, still stuck as a Thanksgiving toilet.

I am going to the yeast starter. Its my first time of trying yeast starter and I am using washed yeast, so I am curious just how well this will work. How long does a yeast starter normally take?

[mwedge]

Typically with a good healthy yeast starter you will see activity within 12 hours. Also you might consider adding some yeast nutrient when you add the starter.

[arkador]

All but 1 person memorial day LOVED the Sasion! The one that didn't, was only due to the orange peel taste.

[MightyCow9]

The yeast starter and nutrient did the trick to unclog my stuck fermentation. It has been fermenting at a good steady bubble every couple seconds since a few hours after repitch. I did that Saturday afternoon and it was still bubbling steady this morning. It never did hit a high krausen after the repitch, just about 1/8-1/4 inch of foam. I am hoping that the Saison yeast threw down and took over the starter yeast. I can't wait to drink it, even though it may still be a few weeks out. I am going to cask carb it.