6 mo brewer

I am 6 months in and about 12-15 batches. I do BIAB now. I'm looking for my next few beers. I dont know what all the styles taste like....can anyone compare a saison to something commercial or craft brewed? I tend to like the richer maltier beers, like sam adams octoberfest. Have tried a couple octoberfests, but not similar. I hate having to brew 5 gallons not having any idea of what a beer will taste like.

Ya I didn't mean to post that

I tend to think of saisons as a bit of a cross between a Belgian and a wheat beer. They're generally lighter, and have a fair amount of flavor from the yeast. The trouble is, saison is a fairly broad label, so for commercial beers two different saisons might taste wildly different. For instance, some saisons are spiced, others just use the yeast flavors. Some have almost no hop flavor and just enough bitterness to cover the residual sweetness (which is low), while others might have some citrusy hop flavors/aromas or a decent bitter bite. Because of the variability, though, you should be able to make one you'd like.

THe best thing to do is think about styles you might be interested in and then go to a reputable liquor store with a good craft beer department. the people that work there should be able to point you in the right direction.

Saisons are also know as Farmhouse style beers, there are also Kolsch and Wits, Whites, Trippels, Dubbels and a myriad of others.

You can also look Here: http://www.bjcp.org/docs/2008_stylebook.pdf
You can read about each style and each guideline will list commercial examples that are true to the style

Happy Learning!

As a noob who has focused mainly on Saisons I don't think I can come up with any commercial brew to compare them to. What I've brewed so far have been rich, thick beers with a strong flavor profile.

Not the kind of thing I'd drink a six pack of, but the perfect accompaniment for a good BBQ, Thai plate, or steak.

Happy brewing.

rdbrett said:

I am 6 months in and about 12-15 batches.

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You're not married

rdbrett said:

I hate having to brew 5 gallons not having any idea of what a beer will taste like.

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So scale down your recipes and brew smaller batches. Lot of people do small test batches. There are no Beer Police who come to your house and arrest you if you do 2 gallons at a time (yet).

If you like rich and malty, try brewing a Scottish ale.

Yeah I cut down to 2.5 gal batches after about 9 months. Had a few batches that were iffy. Hate commiting to that much beer without knowing how it will turn out. Was able to turn around a lot of beer and now have some go-to's that I brew full.

Not sure where you live and what beers are available to you but if you have never tried a saison then do not brew it...I love a good saison but it can be strange if you are not familiar with the style.Would you cook a food recipe without trying it beforehand?Not trying to be a D!ck but you should try one before you waste the money on ingredients.

A Saison is like a golden ale..Love it or hate it.Living in Michigan New Holland makes a great saison called Monkey King.You will get a farm house flavor or get a belgian funk flavor and both are fine to me but a sam adams they are not.

I could be mistaken, but I think that was the purpose of his post. He is asking for some commercial examples so he can try them to see if they are something he would enjoy.

Just gave a example so what was the point of the above post.

As others have mentioned, you really should try the style before brewing. Get a feel for things before you dive into the expense and time of brewing one.

Head to Beer Advocate and look up the style, it will list a bunch of them and you can rank them. Then head to a store with a good craft beer selection and pick up a bunch of singles. Some stores do a "build your own six-pack" deal, which would give you the opportunity sample a variety. Chill, drink and see which ones you like best. Then search for a clone recipe.

Rdbrett,I would also urger you to try Flying dog farmhouse IPA which would give you a idea of how the style has a farmhouse taste/funk.

JBOGAN said:

Just gave a example so what was the point of the above post.

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Indeed you did. I was responding to your first post. It was just an observation. Your second one landed while I was typing. Upon further review, please disregard my post.

LLBeanJ said:

Indeed you did. I was responding to your first post. It was just an observation. Your second one landed while I was typing. Upon further review, please disregard my post.

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No harm,no foul.Would be a shame to see a five gallon batch dumped because someone thought it went bad.Dumped a wit with wlp400 and wished I used it for a Saison.

Thanks for your help everybody!

Use same fermentor or need to find something smaller?

Tank 7 is a good American take on a Saison. Saison DuPont is the standard by which all are measured. Both are available here in Houston so you should be able to find them almost anywhere.

If you cut your batch to 2.5 gallons, are the gravities still the same? Still boil for an hour? Can I still ferment in a 7 gallon bucket? Thx!

JBOGAN said:

Would you cook a food recipe without trying it beforehand?

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Yes.

I get your point, but think the better comparison would be preparing/freezing 50 servings of a food recipe you've never had before.