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eulipion2 · 07-23-2012, 02:24 PM

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Wyeast 3711
Yeast Starter: Nope
Batch Size (Gallons): 6
Original Gravity: 1.028
Final Gravity: 1.005
IBU: 18.7
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 5.7
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14-21 days at 73 F
Tasting Notes: Fruity, spicy, very saison-like

I love saisons, but the 5-7% ABV that a typical saison has is not very quaffable during the hot summer months. Here's a more sessionable version that has all the saison characteristics with lower alcohol.

Brew-In-A-Bag/No-Chill

Reverse osmosis water
1.5 tsp Calcium Chloride

5 lb Belgian Pale Malt
1 lb Weyermann Light Munich Malt
2 oz Acid Malt

.5 oz Styrian Golding (3.8%, pellet) First Wort Hop
.5 oz Styrian Golding (3.8%, pellet) 30 min (50 minute addition with chilling method)
2 oz Strisselspalt (2.0%, pellet) Cube hop (20 minute addition with chilling method)

Wyeast 3711 French Saison

Mash: 152 F for 60 min
Mash-out: 170 F for 15 min
Boil: 60 min

Target stats are listed above, calculated for 75% efficiency. Here's what I got on brew day:
Efficiency: 86%
OG: 1.032
FG: 1.002
ABV: 4.0%
IBU: 18.1

It's still a session beer, very drinkable, and only 4% abv. It exhibits all the characteristics of a saison, fruity and spicy, though the head doesn't last quite as long as more traditional examples. It was a hit at my homebrew club's summer party, so I'm not complaining

I added the Munich to help with the color and give it a little more body and malt flavor. The acid malt is there strictly for pH adjustment. The low-AA hops provided the right amount of balance and the flavors were spot-on.

My efficiency always seems to increase when I use a smaller grain bill with Brew-In-A-Bag, and I forgot to calculate for that, plus the yeast attenuated more than expected, taking this from a 2.9% quaffer to a 4% "monster" brew

Next time I will take the enhanced efficiency into consideration, but I consider this recipe a tried-and-true success!

wormraper · 07-28-2012, 03:20 AM

a nice sessionable saison is perfect. I love me some saisons but at 7-8% can't drink as much as I'd like. any way to convert this into a extract brew???

lumpher · 07-28-2012, 03:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wormraper

a nice sessionable saison is perfect. I love me some saisons but at 7-8% can't drink as much as I'd like. any way to convert this into a extract brew???

you can use 3 lbs light dme instead of the pale malt, but you'll still need to mash the specialty grain

wormraper · 07-28-2012, 03:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lumpher

you can use 3 lbs light dme instead of the pale malt, but you'll still need to mash the specialty grain

mash the specialty grain or just steep them??

lumpher · 07-28-2012, 03:35 AM

depends on how sour you want it. a little sour, steep. a lot sour, mash

wormraper · 07-28-2012, 03:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lumpher

depends on how sour you want it. a little sour, steep. a lot sour, mash

ok, call me stupid since I have only steeped, but how would I go about mashing the munich and acid malt????

eulipion2 · 07-29-2012, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lumpher

depends on how sour you want it. a little sour, steep. a lot sour, mash

The acid malt is strictly for pH adjustment, and doesn't add any noticeable sourness. If you're not using Reverse Osmosis water, just change the acid malt to pale malt.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wormraper

ok, call me stupid since I have only steeped, but how would I go about mashing the munich and acid malt????

Basically, if you steep the Munich and acid malts at say around 150 for 30-60 min., that's mashing. Basically keep doing what you've been doing, just pay closer attention to the temperature.

Honestly, find the freshest, most fermentable light extract you can find, maybe a little Munich extract if you can find it, and skip the acid malt altogether and it would still get you pretty close.

wormraper · 07-29-2012, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eulipion2

The acid malt is strictly for pH adjustment, and doesn't add any noticeable sourness. If you're not using Reverse Osmosis water, just change the acid malt to pale malt.

Basically, if you steep the Munich and acid malts at say around 150 for 30-60 min., that's mashing. Basically keep doing what you've been doing, just pay closer attention to the temperature.

Honestly, find the freshest, most fermentable light extract you can find, maybe a little Munich extract if you can find it, and skip the acid malt altogether and it would still get you pretty close.

ok, that makes sesnse. thanks for the info on mashing the specialty grains

ok, can't get munich in Tucson but I can get briess or muntons extra light extract so I'll try that

QuercusMax · 03-07-2013, 02:07 AM

I brewed this in January as my very first AG brew. I subbed 2-row for the Belgian Pils and Vienna for the Munich because my LHBS was disorganized and I couldn't find the right malts. (I now have 55 lb of Durst pils and know the unlabeled bin is Munich.) I also had to sub Mt Hood for the Strisselspalt. Used WLP565, no starter, in 2.5 gallon batch.

Even with my utter AG noob-ness and recipe chaos, this came out fantastic. Great fluffy head, nice pale orange color, good bitterness, nice funky aroma. I had never drunk a saison before, but this weekend I tried a Saison DuPont, and I actually think I like this better! (SD is a little too bitter for my palate, when it ferments so dry.)

This recipe I think would do nicely with a small amount of dry hopping. Maybe .5 oz for 5 gallons. It's really good. I'm probably going to do a black version of this, with some cardamom, this weekend.

Overall a fantastic recipe. I can't recommend this enough.

QuercusMax · 03-07-2013, 02:12 AM

Oh, a few more notes. I left out the acid malt and water additions and used tap water. Also, my wife and her friend kept complaining about the smell of the DuPont. She doesn't complain about this one. I may need to ferment hotter to get to that level of funkiness - I fermented mostly at 68 ambient, them dropped to 57, whereas next time I'll start at 68 then move to 72 after a day or two.