Today I brewed my first Saison. I usually use White Labs yeast, but in this case, I salvaged the yeast from the bottom of 2 Boulevard Smokestack Series Saisons. I plan to crank the heat up on this one, to 75 for a couple of days, then to even 80. I read from Phil Markowski in Farmhouse Ales that brewing a Saison is not like any other type – particularly in the temperature department. It is kind of neat because in the old days, the farmers would have their own house yeasts, and sometimes swap with neighbors to “liven up” the little buggers.
Not that this is the same, but borrowing some friends from Boulevard kind of makes me feel the same way.
What’s your experience “harvesting” yeast? Has it worked out for you?
2 thoughts on “Brewing a Saison”