Saison du BUFF help

Brewtimore · 10-06-2010, 10:35 PM

I have never made my own grain bill before. My wife loves Saison du BUFF and wants me to try it out. Stone Brewery brought 40 kegs to the Alewife in Baltimore on Oct 1. I went, talked to Greg Koch about it and he gave me some tips. I just got the actual grains used emailed to me today, but didn't get the amounts.

Here is what I have:

What did the abv come out at on this beer? 6.8%
IBU's? 50
Special ingredients? Pilsner malt, wheat malt and flaked rye. Centennial, Amarillo and Citra hops, parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Tasting notes? Citrusy and sage/rosemary.

This is what I have come up with so far.

Pilsen 2 row 9.0
Wheat Malt 1.0
Flaked Rye 1.0

Mash @ 152 for 60 minutes

Centennial 1.0 oz @ 60
Amarillo 1.0 oz @ 15
Citra 1.0 oz @ 0

Sage 15%
Rosemary 15%
Thyme 15%
Parsley 55%

Total of 3 oz of herbs at whirlpool stage.

Yeast Wyeast 3726 Farmhouse Ale @ 77 for 2 weeks

What do you think? Any ideas on this brew?

**BargainFittings** · 10-07-2010, 11:25 AM

Maybe mash a bit cooler if you want it to dry out more.

3 oz of herbs should be prominent in the final brew.

maida7 · 10-07-2010, 01:13 PM

mash at 149 for 90 minutes

You may consider adding table sugar

start the ferment in the mid 60's and slowly jack up the temp over the course of a week to the mid 70's

go easy on the herbs.

This is probably a beer that you will need to make several times to dial in. Have Fun!

kanzimonson · 10-07-2010, 01:36 PM

I've only had the beer once so I can't trust my memory too much, but I do remember it being a very dry beer. That definitely points to a lower mash temp as people have mentioned. I also think your grain bill is too low.

-6.8%ABV means there were 51 gravity points that were consumed during fermentation (6.8 * 7.5)
-At the lowest end of attenuation, I'm guessing it got 75%. That would point to an OG of 1.068. (51/.75)
-At the highest end, let's just say 85%. That would be an OG of 1.060 (51/.85)

So shoot for somewhere in the 1.060-1.070 range for your OG, which means you probably need to up the grains. I'd keep your wheat and rye at the same amounts and just boost the pils.

Also, do some research on how other people use Saison and Farmhouse yeasts. They're quite finicky, and don't be surprised if you have to pitch another strain at the end of fermentation just to finish it off. I've never made a saison so take this with a grain of salt, but I'd try to do a continually rising fermentation temp. And apparently over 85* will lead to stuck fermentation, so maybe start in the low 70s and work to 80*?

**dwarven_stout** · 10-08-2010, 03:49 AM

Unless they recommended the Wy#3726 to you, I'd suggest the #3711. You won't have to pamper it, and it will still give you a good flavor profile.

NoisufnoC · 10-08-2010, 06:52 PM

interesting thread. I really enjoyed the beer when I was visiting SD and ate at the brewery, I've heard there's no distribution in my area right now.

Keep us updated on your progress, I'd like to try cloning it myself.

Brewtimore · 10-09-2010, 03:21 PM

Thanks everyone. I will take a few suggestions and put them into the brew. This is what my wife to be her "house beer" so I will be making this quite a few times. We still have a lot of BUFF around here, thanks to the fact I have a beach house 2 miles away from DFH brewery in Milton.

I will keep everyone updates. Thanks again, and feel free to continue to add suggestions!!!

Brewtimore · 11-06-2010, 01:58 PM

Just an update. I am brewing this today. I will let everyone know how it is going / turns out. Thanks again for the input.

ejearn · 11-08-2010, 03:37 PM

Interesting thread, DFH Saison du BUFF is one of the best beers I've had this year. Every time I buy a 4 pack I end up drinking the whole damn thing in one sitting! I can't stop myself! It's just that good! I have all three (Stone, Victory, DFH), and they are all excellent and distinctly different from one another. Thanks for posting the grain-bill, I am very curious to hear how it came out, and I will definitely be given this one a shot!

Cheers!

pretzelb · 11-08-2010, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brewtimore

This is what my wife to be her "house beer" so I will be making this quite a few times.

Ouch. No pressure or anything. I'm in a similar situation with a request for a La Fin Du Monde clone. It has me worried about my latest batch.

I haven't tried the beer you are trying to clone. The recipe sounds interesting. I need to keep an eye out for it.

Keep us posted. I'm interested to hear about it.