Wedding Saison - Please critique
 

So I have decided to brew a beer for my brothers wedding and have settled on a Saison. Here is the recipe that I have come up with so far - I plan on using the Wyeast 3711 French Saison strain since it does not require 80-90F temps to ferment properly. This recipe is for a 6 gallon batch:

RECIPE
9 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 69.23 %
3 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) Bel (3.0 SRM) Grain 23.08 %
1.00 oz Styrian Goldings [5.40 %] (60 min) Hops 15.1 IBU
0.50 oz Styrian Goldings [5.40 %] (30 min) Hops 5.8 IBU
0.50 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (15 min) Hops 2.8 IBU
0.50 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (2 min) Hops 0.5 IBU
1.00 oz Ginger Root (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1.00 oz Orange Peel, Bitter (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 lbs Candi Syrup, Amber (AM) (40.0 SRM) Sugar 7.69 %
1 Pkgs French Saison (Wyeast Labs #3711) Yeast-Ale

As far as the mash schedule goes, I am planning to mash at 149F for 75 mins and then batch sparge. I am looking to keep this beer on the dryer side, but not too dry.

I am planning to ferment at 68-70F in the primary for 7-10 days and then using a heat pad to raise the temp to around 75F in the secondary for another week or so.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I want this to be a very special beer.

Oh, the wedding is in Jamaica - anyone have experience with putting the bottle in your checked luggage and crossing through customs? I am thinking that I will take 2 or 3 750ml bottles with me. Any problems foreseen here?

:mug:

I really like the Candi Syrup in there...but Im not sure about the ginger root. 1oz seems like a lot. Im not a fan of ginger in anything; I think it overpowers everything else...not sure about in beer though

Agreed. I've heard that 1 oz. of ginger is excessive, here is a blog post on it: http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2010/03/failed-beer-recipes.html

Thanks for the reply, Hoppy. The ginger is a big question mark for me as well - I did add about 1tsp to my pumpkin beer last year and all of the samples had that ginger "bite", but then when I bottled and aged it for a few weeks it really seemed to mellow out and work well. I may omit it from the recipe all together to be on the safe side.

Great link, thanks!

Feedback from someone that has experience with the Wyeast 3711 strain would be greatly appreciated.

Its a freakin beast....you'll love it. Great yeast; there is a big long thread in here on 3711. Do a quick search

3711 is great yeast.

Really works hard.

Unfortunately I have two discouraging comments:

1) Saison is a ballsy choice for a wedding. By your quantities it doesn't look like you're trying to supply the entire wedding or anything, but it sure does suck when you spend the time to brew something and it's not a crowd pleaser. But I give you props for trying something different.

2) I've had beer confiscated from checked bags because "It's under pressure and might explode." I informed them that this made my blood under pressure and I was about to explode on them. It didn't work.

You should consider shipping the beer ahead of the wedding party. You will be able to ship a bigger quantity and it will have time to settle before being opened. With all of these new TSA "rules" of what we can and cannot pack you may not want to risk confiscation or anything that would cause problems....