French Saison question

Hey everybody,

I'm making a Saison for my wedding and wanted to use some spices but don't know how much to use. I have fresh corriander seeds (uncrushed) fresh cardamom, and bitter Orange peel; which I hear all 3 go great together especially in a Saison. I don't want to over spice it but I want some kick of spice/funk in your mouth with a hint of orange. Can anyone help me out? I'm using northern brewers petite saisin de'Ete kit for this

I approach spicing just like I do in my cooking. The flavor should be subtle and add to the complexity without overpowering the recipe. If someone tastes it and says there is XYZ spice in there, then you used too much.

I have spiced brews with corriander and bitter orange peel and about .25 oz is about right for my taste. Very subtle flavor of each that lets the major flavor of the beer still show. I just crush the corriander and add it along with the orange peel with 5-10 minutes left in the boil.

I am about 15 minuts away from firing up the burner for a Saison this morning. No corriander but I am adding some orange peel.

Great! thanks so much beergolf, I was really trying to see the actual amount other people used in their Saison beers and this helped a lot. Any experience using cardamom?

When adding orange peel do you use fresh peel or a dried product?

stevestone1988 said:

Great! thanks so much beergolf, I was really trying to see the actual amount other people used in their Saison beers and this helped a lot. Any experience using cardamom?

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I have not used cardamom, so I cannot help you. But just corriander and orange would be nice.

I love Saisons and Belgians and am getting to to point where I am appreciating the more simple recipes that let the yeast flavor profile shine.

I've read that the general thoughts in Belgium when brewing with spices is that if you can taste the specific spices, you've used too much.

For a five gallon batch of my Inner Sanctum Triple, I use 9g total of spices (no orange). For a five gallon batch of my White Tornado Wit, I use 14g spices + 7g chamomile + 1 orange peel (of course this has a lot thicker mouthfeel, so the viscosity plays on this). This is about the top range of what I would recommend (for my palate, anyway).

My best advice is to try a batch, see it through to completion, take careful notes, and adjust accordingly next time around.