Thin Saison

Over The Cliff Brewing

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hey folks I just tapped my Saison today and it is thin and not carbonated very much. I get lots of foam but once that disappears the beer is thin. What do you think went wrong?
 
Not sure what "thin" means. Watery, I assume? Lack of full mouthfeel? Is the flavor good and full or is that suffering, as well?
Grain bill has the most impact on mouthfeel. Mash temp and subsequent attenuation are big factors. How did you handle those things?
OG, FG, yeast strain and fermentation temp. All important to the question.
More info...
 
How long has it had to carbonate and how?
It may just need to sit a bit longer to allow the carbonation to settle a bit.
 
Mashed at 149 60 min
Used lallemand Belle Saison dry yeast
There's flaked wheat in my grain build
Carbed in keg with sugar for 3 weeks. The ABV was a little higher than I expected. It tastes ok but blah to me.
 
The Belle Saison yeast always goes way past target FG when I use it. I always use around a pound of wheat malt for a 5 gallon batch. This definitely helps with head retention. It also helps with mouth feel. Flaked wheat should give similar results, but I rarely use it.

I use priming sugar in a keg for this. Usually about 5 ounces for 5-gallons. At room temperature, this easily carbonates in a week. Did you have a good seal on the keg?
 
It may be something as simple as trouble with dispensing. I have beers that want to blow all the CO2 out in the foam and then not be as lively as they should. Try turning the serving pressure down and purge the keg so that you're just trickling it out and see if it foams less and holds better CO2. If it's lacking the carbonic bit and the effervescence, that can make it seem much less full in the mouth.
Your flaked wheat should have given you decent body even with the high attenuation.
 
The Belle Saison yeast always goes way past target FG when I use it. I always use around a pound of wheat malt for a 5 gallon batch. This definitely helps with head retention. It also helps with mouth feel. Flaked wheat should give similar results, but I rarely use it.

I use priming sugar in a keg for this. Usually about 5 ounces for 5-gallons. At room temperature, this easily carbonates in a week. Did you have a good seal on the keg?
I’m curious as to the purpose of adding 5 oz of sugar in order to carbonate the keg. If the keg is going on gas, why prime with sugar?
 
I’m curious as to the purpose of adding 5 oz of sugar in order to carbonate the keg. If the keg is going on gas, why prime with sugar?
Some people prime their kegs with sugar, then use gas to dispense the beer.
 
I’m curious as to the purpose of adding 5 oz of sugar in order to carbonate the keg. If the keg is going on gas, why prime with sugar?
You can carbonate a keg by either putting it under pressure and allowing the CO2 to dissolve, or you can add priming sugar, just like you do when bottling. There are pro’s and con’s to each method.
 
I am curious to know what the cons are to carbonating under pressure.
 
I am curious to know what the cons are to carbonating under pressure.
I have heard some people state that it stresses the yeast. However, I have not seen any controlled studies stating this. I have seen where several people have done this with some success.

The only con that I know of us that I don't have the equipment for primary fermentation under pressure.
 
It’s really the same thing as bottle conditioning. The yeast generally will pressurize the bottle to a couple of atmospheres with no problem only now it’s being done in the keg and then it’s put on gas to maintain the carbonation and move the liquid into the glass.
 
I am curious to know what the cons are to carbonating under pressure.
None I can find. I just recently switched from bottling to kegging and can find no downside of conditioning under pressure.
 
I am curious to know what the cons are to carbonating under pressure.
There's a few triangle tests, mainly Brulosophy, that show people can taste the difference between force carbed and yeast carbed. Then it comes down to preference. Though there's as many that show no difference. Probably depends on style.
 
There's a few triangle tests, mainly Brulosophy, that show people can taste the difference between force carbed and yeast carbed. Then it comes down to preference. Though there's as many that show no difference. Probably depends on style.
After the first 3 beers who really cares?
 
Pretty much. Do whatever works for you. If you like one over the other, then kick ass.
 
The Belle Saison yeast always goes way past target FG when I use it. I always use around a pound of wheat malt for a 5 gallon batch. This definitely helps with head retention. It also helps with mouth feel. Flaked wheat should give similar results, but I rarely use it.

I use priming sugar in a keg for this. Usually about 5 ounces for 5-gallons. At room temperature, this easily carbonates in a week. Did you have a good seal on the keg?
Bubba, I plan to allow A Saison I just made last week to secondary in a keg for 6 months and add Brett for that 6 months. If I then just add 5 oz of sugar to the keg as you’ve stated, do I need to add yeast too because of the 6 months that will have past?
 

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