Saison/Farmhouse Ale Suggestions?

Hi,

I am an IPA fan and I have so far brewed two american style IPA's. I want to brew a batch that my girlfriend will drink and she loves Belgian style beer. She really likes the Tank 7. What could I brew that is:

1) Similar enough to an IPA for myself to enjoy.
2) Belgian/Saison/Farmouse Ale enough for her to enjoy.
3) Higher ABV (around 8% or higher)

I do like all kinds of beer, its just that my IPA phase has lasted about 5+ years.

Thank you,

Shawn

If you like hops, why not shoot for a hoppy saison?
It seems like something with a touch of base bitterness and a hearty helping of hops in the flavor end/dry hop might be up your alley.
Try something simple like:

70% Pilsner
15% munich
10% turbinado sugar
5% crystal 60l or aromatic malt

I really like saaz for a traditional hop, I'd do something like 2oz at 60, 1oz at 10 min, 1 oz at flame out and 1 oz dry hop before bottling.
Should be plenty hoppy but allow the yeast to shine through (use a belgian or french saison strain).

Really, the critical aspect of the saison is the yeast profile and getting it to dry out effectively (in my opinion). The sugar should help with the dryness and starting the ferment at ~64*F and slowly ramping to the mid 70's should do you well for the desired profile.

I have no experience with them, but a lot of people have been talking about belgian IPA's lately as well, perhaps a style to look into.

Belgian IPA like Houblonchouffe, NB has a kit that's similar
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/houblonmonstre-tripel-ipa-all-grain-kit.html
Or there's this clone from a member that details the temperatures required more.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f71/houblon-chouffe-aka-hopchewy-150742/
I wouldn't recommend attempting this if you don't have temp control.

Just take your favorite IPA recipe and swap the yeast with a saison strain. I like the DuPont strain for its funkiness. Start the ferment at 70 then ramp up to 80 over the next 3 days. Hold until you're below 1010. This should only take one week. Rack to secondary and dry hop.

A step mash works well for fermentability; Hold at 144 for 1.5 hrs, then hit it with about 2 quarts of boiling water to bring it to 152ish for another 1 hr. Make sure you leave room in the MT for the addition! Keep the malt bill simple, NLT 90% base malt.

Keep the IBUs under 40, this yeast leaves some sourness.

Yum

All of these seem like excellent ideas. I like belgians and saisons but do not know much about them. I will read over the suggestions and decide my next brew. Thanks a lot for the quick responses. You are all always so helpful. Thank you

Tank 7 is a pretty great American interpretation of a saison, I recently brewed a recipe similar to a clone found here on HBT. IMHO, I don't really think you'll be able to cleanly mesh the saison yeast profile with an American IPA hop profile. I've tried, and it really didn't turn out nearly as well as I was hoping. That said, a restrained amount of American hops can work wonders with a funky saison strain, as per Tank 7. My hopping schedule for my Tank 7-ish clone was:

0.5 oz Bravo (14.2%) - 60 min
0.25 oz Simcoe (14.1%) - 15 min
0.5 oz Cascade (5.5%) - 1 min
0.5 oz Cascade (5.5%) - Dry hop 5 days

(I know Tank 7 uses Amarillo, Cascade is cheaper and easier to find though)

They aren't competing with the yeast for attention, but do impart a nice citrus note that compliments the funkiness.

I just made a farmhouse this weekend.
70% pale malt
20% wheat malt
10% corn flakes
Hops were
Magnum for 60 min boil
Simcoe for 20 min
Centennial for 15
And Amarillo for dry hopping
Used Wyeast Belgium Saison smack pack.

Good luck

If you use wyeast 3711, back down the hops a little...this yeast will really dry out the beer which accentuates the hops...you can get a hoppy saison with 40 (or less) IBUs.