Smoked Saison idea

With my BetterBottle filled with Berliner Weiss that will not be bottled until April, I decided to brew an experimental batch or two in a couple 1 gallon jugs I have laying around. I had been planning a smoked brown ale all winter but never got around to it. With spring approaching I was thinking maybe a saison with some smoked malt could be interesting. I know rauchmalt is more drinkable/mild but the spiciness of the saison yeast might complement peat smoked malt well, right? Anyway, here is my recipe idea, I welcome critique and suggestions.

For a 2.25 gallon batch

Est Original Gravity: 1.052 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.011 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.39 %
Bitterness: 25.8 IBU
Est Color: 16.2 SRM


Amount Item Type % or IBU
2.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 45.71 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 22.86 %
1.00 lb Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 22.86 %
0.25 lb Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 5.71 %
0.13 lb Peat Smoked Malt (2.8 SRM) Grain 2.86 %
0.50 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 17.2 IBU
0.50 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] (15 min) Hops 8.5 IBU
1 Pkgs Belgian Saison (Wyeast Labs #3724) Yeast-Ale

22% crystal malt is pretty extreme, especially for a saison which are generally very dry. Peat malt is pretty agressive, I'd probably go with rauchmalt for a saison since the flavor is a bit more delicate.

Something like:
3.5 lbs pils
1 lb wheat
.5 lbs rauch

Your hops/yeast look fine.

Interesting idea, good luck.

Has a brewpub smoked saison that was 100% rauchmalt and saison yeast.. dont know the hops, but it was quite interesting.. I had a couple. +1 to the peat smoked malt is way stronger tastewise than the rauchmalt

Oldsock said:

22% crystal malt is pretty extreme, especially for a saison which are generally very dry. Peat malt is pretty agressive, I'd probably go with rauchmalt for a saison since the flavor is a bit more delicate.

Something like:
3.5 lbs pils
1 lb wheat
.5 lbs rauch

Your hops/yeast look fine.

Interesting idea, good luck.

Click to expand...

agree with this. Way too much crystal and you probably don't need any. Peat seems out of place in trying to smoke a saison. Rauch definitely seems better. You could bump the rauch up significantly more depending on how smoky you want it.

100% rauchmalt... interesting. I know peat malt can be really strong but as a scotch fan I just love that smell. I had a Stone Smoked Porter the other day and wished it had more smoke to it (and some people think that is too smoky!?!?!?). That said, maybe you're all right, I don't want to overpower the saison characteristics. I was going with the crystal malt to give a little body and color, plus a little residual sweetness to balance the smoke. In my mind, I can't picture a smoke beer being as pale and dry as a traditional saison. What if I went with

2.5 lbs pils
1 lb wheat
.5 lbs rauch
0.125 lbs chocolate

That would make the color a bit darker and give a little bit richer flavor to balance the smoke. Mash around 154F and ferment in the high 70's.

Thanks

Sounds tasty to me (although with only that much malt your gravity will be pretty low), should be interesting. If you really love smoke you could certainly add .5-1 lbs more smoked malt.

You should try the Schlenkerla Helles, it is very crisp/dry but with a nice smoked character (no yeast character though). It is a very different experience than their other beers which tend to be very smoky balanced by thick/rich malt.

Use Wyeast 3711. You won't be disappointed.

This is an old thread but I was thinking of brewing a smoked saison also and thought I might see if you had tried it and how it went

Same here. Zombie threads are one thing but research threads are another. I'm interested, I was going along a similar route but with nelson sauvin for hops and maybe galaxy to put it over the edge.

I had a smoked saison in Portland at burnside brewing that was really good, and thinking how to make one. I was thinking citra for the hops, and www.homebrewtalk.com/f71/cottage-house-saison-254684/index10.html as the rest of it. I would home smoke about 10% of the base malk with cherry or apple or something. I have never used the Nelson or Galaxy hops

Jester King did a pretty good one as well: http://jesterkingbrewery.com/introducing-salt-lick-pecan-wood-smoked-saison

Brewed today using the cottage recipe that I posted above. I smoked the wheat portion (about 10% of total) with apple and alder chips. I will see how it turns out.

Saw this post and thought I'd share a bit...I've been brewing a variety of smoked saisons for the past year using rauchmalt.

I'll share a recipe and results here in case anyone is still interested. First off, I am using WLP565 yeast in nearly all of my smoked saisons. I go heavy on the rauch because I like it that way...I'm a huge smoked beer fan and a big saison fan as well. On top of that, saison yeast does well in Florida in the summer and when my keezer is full I can ferment them in the closet of my air conditioned house and still get desirable results.

Here's a recipe, 5 gallon batch --

Smoked Saison I
5 lbs Pale 2 row
3 lbs 2 oz Rauchmalt
2 lbs 8 oz Vienna Malt
1 lb 4 oz Flaked Wheat
10 oz Belgian Candi Sugar (clear)
Mash 60 min at 156F, Sparge at 168F, Boil for 60 min

1.25 oz Saaz - 60 min
.65 oz Saaz - 30 min
.65 oz Saaz - 15 min

WLP 565 yeast

Once fermentation is done, I like to bottle condition for about 30 days. This beer is heavy on the smoke but the saison yeast gives it a farmhouse funk -- you can smell it and you can taste it. Fruity, spicy, really interesting but surprisingly easy to drink. My wife is NOT a smoke beer fan but she likes this one. It comes in around 6.5% ABV.

Variation 1 (Smoked Cherry Saison): If you are feeling adventurous try adding 1 lb of cherries per gallon at secondary. The yeast will come back to life and go crazy eating up those cherries. Give it about 3-5 days, then bottle for 30-60 -- I suggest leaving it a little longer so 60 is preferred as it helps really clean up the flavor and everything melds together nicely. ABV on this one jumped to around 7.8% after the yeast ate up those cherries.

Variation 2 (Sour Smoked Cherry Saison): Add the cherries at secondary as is variation 1 above but after 3 days, rack to a fresh carboy/bucket and add Brett B (WLP650). Give it a week at fermentation temps then cold crash in a keezer for 30-60 days before bottling. The color goes from a deep red to a purple. The flavor is only for fans of sours but man is complex! If you like sours give this one a shot. The way that Brett B compliments the cherry and smokey saison is incredible.

Pics of the finished smoked saison and smoked cherry saison (variation 1)..sorry can't find a pic of the variation 2! ---

I was working on a smoked maple saison here https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=515515 it has some corrections on the last page. I don't know how, but I had forgotten to pick up wheat dme. If I made it again I would add a little wheat dme, and less smoked malt. But if you really like the smoke to hit you in the face, try it with the full 2oz I used in the final recipe.

Overall it turned out well if you like a super-smoked beer with a hint of maple.

What type of cherries did you use?