Saison Recipe - 1st Attempt

I know Saison is a summer ale, but I really want to make one, I had one that was delicious in Kaiserslaughtern at a little brewpub and I just thought about it today. Here is my feeble attempt at a recipe. Whether this is right or not, I'm not sure, but it sure sounds good to me:

Style: Saison
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.41 gal
Estimated OG: 1.072 SG
Estimated Color: 11.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 26.1 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
7.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 54.90 %
2.00 lb Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 15.69 %
1.25 lb Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain 9.80 %
1.00 lb Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 7.84 %
0.50 lb Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain 3.92 %
1.00 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] (60 min) Hops 14.9 IBU
0.50 oz Styrian Goldings [5.40 %] (30 min) Hops 6.4 IBU
0.25 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (30 min) Hops 3.0 IBU
0.25 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] (15 min) Hops 1.8 IBU
0.75 oz Orange Peel, Bitter (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
2.00 gm Seeds of Paradise (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.00 lb Candi Sugar, Clear (0.5 SRM) Sugar 7.84 %
1 Pkgs Belgian Saison II Ale (White Labs #WLP566) Yeast-Ale



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Some advice that was given to me when I did mine this summer was to mash low (146ish) for a longer time. And ferment hot(85-95) I think I got mine up to about 100 on a day or two, and it is great. I really stepped up the spices in mine though, i like a spicy saison though. let us know how it comes out.

Cheers
BTW i am workin gon my red recipe and will post it tonite

I'm thinking black peppercorns as well, but aren't they similar to seeds of paradise? I'll let this one ferment on my porch, gets up to 88 around here and 75 or so at night. Perfect time of the year.

Also, I'm using the WLP566 not the 565, know anything about this one?


Side Note: Wop, my red smell so flipping good, I can't stop sniffing the airlock. Fermentation has slowed down immensly, I'm gonna measure the gravity tonight and post up on that other thread.

I dig it. The use of English hops is strange, but for only 0.25 oz, I guess it won't be bad at all.

I've only made mine with Coriander, so I'd love to see how the seeds of paradise work.

I'm thinking of brewing my saison again real soon. Maybe we should beerswap. You can see my recipe in the recipe database.

I'd love to do a beer swap. When doing a search on Saison recipes I found a few that used kent goldings, since I have a ton on hand, figured I'd use some as well. I guess, kind of subconciously, since Kent Goldings and Styrian Goldings have similar names, I figured they might work together as well.

That's one way of doing it!

As you can see by mine, I experimented a little using the Sorachi Ace in my Sorachi Saison. It's got a bigger hop kick than a typical saison, but it still tastes pretty good and has been a HUGE hit with everyone I know.

As for the swap, I wonder how many people would want to get in on a Saison only swap?

I made jezter6's Sorachi, but I added more candi sugar. I'm going to be gone for about a week next week so I'll see how it goes.

I should have enough to bottle a few off the top when it fininshes, but I'm going to play iot by ear.

I'm planning to do another batch of mine possibly next weekend, so I should be ready to send some bottles around mid-late October. I think this would be a great beer for those "indian summer" nights. A nice spicy brew around Halloween.

I may make some changes, although it's well liked so I may just do it to get rid of the last of my sorachi ace hops. They've been in the freezer since like February, so I dunno if they are still at the 13% alpha.

I have a Saison IPA i'd be willing to do some swapping of, it is very hoppy but I like it with the spiciness and fruitiness.

Sweet, I'll make sure to bottle about 6 or so of them for sending out. Will be 4 or 5 weeks from now though.

Have you ever listened to The Jamil Show? Just did Saison (not up on the page but is available through iTunes). Jamil talks about the style and Chris White shows up and talks about the yeast too. I would highly recommend if this is your first attempt at the style.

Ok guys, I'm brewing my Saison again this weekend, so probably 6-8 weeks until it's ready for sending out.

Actually, I had to make some tweaks already due to some hops not available at my HBS and some changes to make it into a 10g recipe, so who knows if it'll turn out the same or not.

Wish me luck, and maybe we can get something going for a mid/end of November swap?

I've changed my recipe.. quite a bit. I have to use what I have on hand since my starter is going and I'm brewing tommorow. The main problem is that I'm using American 2-row instead of belgian pils. Hopefully it won't be too noticable with all the f'in other flavors that are going to be in the spicy, dry-ass beer:

BeerSmith Recipe Printout - www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Se La Saison
Brewer: Christopher John Flannagan
Asst Brewer:
Style: Saison
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.41 gal
Estimated OG: 1.057 SG
Estimated Color: 7.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 29.4 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
7.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 72.54 %
1.00 lb Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 10.36 %
0.25 lb Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 2.59 %
0.25 lb Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain 2.59 %
0.15 lb Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain 1.55 %
1.00 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] (60 min) Hops 16.7 IBU
0.50 oz Styrian Goldings [5.40 %] (30 min) Hops 7.2 IBU
0.25 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] (30 min) Hops 3.3 IBU
0.25 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] (15 min) Hops 2.1 IBU
0.25 oz Black Peppercorn (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
0.25 oz Coriander Seed (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
0.50 oz Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.00 lb Turbinado (10.0 SRM) Sugar 10.36 %
1 Pkgs Belgian Saison II Ale (White Labs #WLP566) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 8.65 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
75 min Mash In Add 10.81 qt of water at 161.4 F 150.0 F

Well, I brewed mine again this weekend. As with every Saison I've did, things had to go horrible. Once we lost a hydrometer, once the false bottom fell off the mash tun, other times we've had horrid stuck mashes, today - the leaf hops clogged up the valve on the kettle, so we dumped it into another kettle through a strainer and back into the main kettle to go through the CFC.

Hot side aerated the crap out of it, but we'll see how that matters.

I should be ready in a few more weeks, maybe just in time for Halloween!!

jezter6 said:

Well, I brewed mine again this weekend. As with every Saison I've did, things had to go horrible. Once we lost a hydrometer, once the false bottom fell off the mash tun, other times we've had horrid stuck mashes, today - the leaf hops clogged up the valve on the kettle, so we dumped it into another kettle through a strainer and back into the main kettle to go through the CFC.

Hot side aerated the crap out of it, but we'll see how that matters.

I should be ready in a few more weeks, maybe just in time for Halloween!!

Click to expand...

Mine's going quite smooth right now. Mashing out at the moment. Smells great, can't wait to throw in the hops

Mashed at 147 dropped to 145 over 70 minutes. PLan on fermenting around 70+ tonight into the 80's tommorow. Got a huge starter going righ tnow as well.

Wooooo, son! This one turned out good. Needs some more time conditioning, but I just opened a bottle last night and it is nice. A "slight" hot alcohol, but I think that's allowed in Saison, and I kind of like it. Very smooth, peppery, and full of life. I realllly like this beer, and most of it is in a keg. Can't wait to tap into it. How bout you other folks that were brewing one. Still wanna swap?

I'm bottling/kegging mine this weekend, so I'll be ready for a swap in a few good weeks of carbonation!

o|||||o, how's yours going?

jezter6 said:

I'm bottling/kegging mine this weekend, so I'll be ready for a swap in a few good weeks of carbonation!

o|||||o, how's yours going?

Click to expand...

It's been kegged for quite awhile. I hope to tap it this weekend. I'll pull off a few to bottle in Sunday perhaps.

Mine is coming around, I think I prejudged the Whitelabs Saison II yeast a little early. At the last(my first) BURP meeting a guy tasted it and said it was very good and asked how old it was and I said only a few weeks. He replied, Oh give it six months to a year - mine turned out much better one year out.

The "too-high" fruitiness is fading and the peppery/spiciness is more evident. It ended dry, which I wanted and is style appropriate, but now it seems more dry with fruitiness is fading a bit(good thing).

Also, I bottled half the batch normally and then dumped the dreggs of one of my sour beers and one from Jolly Pumpkin in the other half and then bottled it. Trying to get a funky/sour saison like Fantome - may take a while. Saison can be a great beer, I'd really like to keep trying to improve mine over the years.

Damn you and your sour beers landhoney.

Since my Belgium trip, everytime I think of sours, I get that craving and involuntary salivary response.

Now I salivate everytime I see John Cleese.

--Pavlov's Dog



BTW: Awesome idea!

landhoney said:

Mine is coming around, I think I prejudged the Whitelabs Saison II yeast a little early. At the last(my first) BURP meeting a guy tasted it and said it was very good and asked how old it was and I said only a few weeks. He replied, Oh give it six months to a year - mine turned out much better one year out.

The "too-high" fruitiness is fading and the peppery/spiciness is more evident. It ended dry, which I wanted and is style appropriate, but now it seems more dry with fruitiness is fading a bit(good thing).

Also, I bottled half the batch normally and then dumped the dreggs of one of my sour beers and one from Jolly Pumpkin in the other half and then bottled it. Trying to get a funky/sour saison like Fantome - may take a while. Saison can be a great beer, I'd really like to keep trying to improve mine over the years.

Click to expand...

Dude, I used the Saison II as well, I realllllly like it. Like I said, it tasted great last night, but young. Can't wait to try again. Maybe new years? Christmas?

Ó Flannagáin said:

Dude, I used the Saison II as well, I realllllly like it. Like I said, it tasted great last night, but young. Can't wait to try again. Maybe new years? Christmas?

Click to expand...

My saison has been so good it's never lasted more than 3 months, and that was one lonely bottle that was accidentally never opened - only because it was unlabeled and we didn't remember what it was.

I can't imagine what it would taste like at 6 and 12 months.

olllllo said:

Damn you and your sour beers landhoney.
Since my Belgium trip, everytime I think of sours, I get that craving and involuntary salivary response.
Now I salivate everytime I see John Cleese.
--Pavlov's Dog BTW: Awesome idea!

Click to expand...

I notice that my cravings for sour beers are not like cravings for other beers. They're probably my favorite style, but it seems like when I want a sour beer, I NEED a sour beer. And just to give credit where credit is due adding the dregs to half the batch was an idea I learned about on BBR.com, not my own.

jezter6 said:

My saison has been so good it's never lasted more than 3 months, and that was one lonely bottle that was accidentally never opened - only because it was unlabeled and we didn't remember what it was.
I can't imagine what it would taste like at 6 and 12 months.

Click to expand...

I think if your saison is that good it should always last more than 3 months. I don't have a problem saving great beers because I know if I do, they're only going to be even better! That, and I brew ofen .

Ok, we bottled this weekend. I saved 6 bottles for a swap.

Should be ready 2-3 weeks in, but will taste better around xmas or January.

When do we want to send them out? Now? Wait until they carb up good first?

landhoney said:

I notice that my cravings for sour beers are not like cravings for other beers. They're probably my favorite style, but it seems like when I want a sour beer, I NEED a sour beer. And just to give credit where credit is due adding the dregs to half the batch was an idea I learned about on BBR.com, not my own.



I think if your saison is that good it should always last more than 3 months. I don't have a problem saving great beers because I know if I do, they're only going to be even better! That, and I brew ofen .

Click to expand...

We consume beer rather quickly, doubly so now that it's in the keg because we're always playing a game of 'kick the keg' so that we can get a new one on tap.

Like right now, I have 1 empty keg and 3 things to put into it, so I need to kick at least one more keg this next week just to keep up!