First Saison for Home Brew Day

I decided to brew up a saison for the start of summer that is approaching. It is a small batch because all of my fermenters except my 5 gallon carboy are locked up. Here is my recipe:

Small Batch Saison

Batch size: 4.5 gal
Boil volume: 6.0 gal
OG: 1.056
FG: 1.004
Bitterness (IBU): 32.4
Color (SRM): 6.4
ABV: 6.7%

[Grains]
Pilsener (Belgian) 8.000lb Grain 84.2%
Cane Sugar 0.500lb Sugar 5.3%
CaraMunich 0.500lb Grain 5.3%
Barley, Flaked 0.500lb Grain 5.3%

[Hops]
Sorachi Ace 0.50oz 15.1% @ 60 min, 31.1 IBU
Sorachi Ace 0.50oz 15.1% @ 1 min, 1.3 IBU

[Yeast/Other]
Wyeast 3711


I have a starter going (also a first! ) and I saw the whole hop Sorachi at the lhbs and decided to give it a shot. Any suggestions/tips for my first Saison?

Keep the temp low. I start at 60* for a week, then ramp up to attenuate. 3711 doesn't like high temps, unless you like fusels. Also, I'd bump the sugar up to 20-30%. The best saison I've ever made was 50% honey. I like my saisons dry. Don't be afraid of a little sugar.

I've had the opposite experience with 3711. My "hot saison", fermented in the 90's was better than the temp controlled (68) version of the same batch. My ciders also, which I use 3711 in, come out better at higher temps. For me, the lower you ferment, the less saison character you get.

I followed Jamil's recommendation and started at 68 then ramped up a degree or two a day to 80. Came out great.

+1 on the sugar for a saison, add a pound or two or three. I think you will like sorachi as your hop it works really well with 3711.

Thanks for the advice! I am going to up the sugar to 1.5-2#. Then I will come back here and yell at you guys for how much more ageing I need to do with the higher abv

So I went ahead and added 2#of sugar to the wort. Also decided to make it a full five gallon batch. About thirty minutes left in the boil. The starter smells amazing! I think there will be many saisons this summer.

Has anyone reused this yeast? I am hoping to wash some from this batch for my next one.

Genjin said:

So I went ahead and added 2#of sugar to the wort. Also decided to make it a full five gallon batch. About thirty minutes left in the boil. The starter smells amazing! I think there will be many saisons this summer.

Has anyone reused this yeast? I am hoping to wash some from this batch for my next one.

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I reuse 3711 all the time. I basically have 4 fermenters and every 4 th brew is a Saison. I usually just grab some yeast for the next batch all the time. I usually go 3 generations before getting new yeast but I may try stretching it out to 4 or5 to see how they turn out.

I like to pitch it low( mid 60's) and then slowly ramp it up to the mid 80's over a couple of weeks. It is a great yeast , that I am really learning how to get the best results from.

Ok, I pitched a little warm ~75F. It took off in about four hours and the temp went up over 80. Smelled awesome! I just checked the gravity, 72 hours after pitching, as the action in the blowoff slowed quite a bit. 1.003! I had 5.6 gal of 1.056 wort in the fermenter so it is already 6.8%abv. I am glad I didn't go any higher on the OG.

I also tasted the sample. Really dry but not too thin. I am hoping the flaked barley maintains a little body. I was surprised that there were no banana or bubblegum esters, but rather some funkiness and some lemony citrus, maybe from the hops. Tasted surprising decent for a 3 day old brew. I am going to move it to a little cooler place and let it rest for 3 and a half more weeks and then probably bottle.

Genjin said:

Ok, I pitched a little warm ~75F. It took off in about four hours and the temp went up over 80. Smelled awesome! I just checked the gravity, 72 hours after pitching, as the action in the blowoff slowed quite a bit. 1.003! I had 5.6 gal of 1.056 wort in the fermenter so it is already 6.8%abv. I am glad I didn't go any higher on the OG.

I also tasted the sample. Really dry but not too thin. I am hoping the flaked barley maintains a little body. I was surprised that there were no banana or bubblegum esters, but rather some funkiness and some lemony citrus, maybe from the hops. Tasted surprising decent for a 3 day old brew. I am going to move it to a little cooler place and let it rest for 3 and a half more weeks and then probably bottle.

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3711 is interesting because it will ferment low but still maintain mouthfeel. The Flaked barly will also help.

Genjin said:

I was surprised that there were no banana or bubblegum esters, but rather some funkiness and some lemony citrus, maybe from the hops.

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Haha you shouldn't be surprised, that sounds exactly like how a saison should taste. Banana/Bubblegum usually comes from hefeweizen and witbier yeasts. The lemon is definitely coming from the hops.

Genjin, I did my first saison about a 3 weeks ago and I'll be bottling it this weekend. Like you, I've been loving the smell coming out of the carboy. Can't wait to taste! I'd love to hear how yours turned out so I could adjust my recipe the next time I brew it up.

BTW, here's my partial mash recipe - if anyone sees something they would tweak, please let me know.

Grains & Adjuncts
Amount Percentage Name Time Gravity
3.30 lbs 32.04 % Munton's Extra Light LME 60 mins 1.037
1.00 lbs 9.71 % Candi Sugar, Clear 60 mins 1.036
1.00 lbs 9.71 % Briess Munich 10L 60 mins 1.035
5.00 lbs 48.54 % Pilsner (2 Row) Bel 60 mins 1.036

Hops
Amount IBU's Name Time AA %
1.00 ozs 13.40 Saaz 60 mins 4.00
1.00 ozs 10.96 Hallertauer 30 mins 4.80
1.00 ozs 4.87 Hallertauer 10 mins 4.80
1.00 ozs 0.85 Saaz 0 mins 4.00

Yeasts
Amount Name Laboratory / ID
1.00 pkg Belgian Saison Wyeast Labs 3724

Looks tasty! I've heard some horror stories about that yeast getting stuck, but also that it makes a terrific beer. How warm have you been fermenting?

I would love to hear how yours comes out as well. I am considering doing a blend of that yeast with 3711 to make sure it finishes low.

Genjin said:

Looks tasty! I've heard some horror stories about that yeast getting stuck, but also that it makes a terrific beer. How warm have you been fermenting?

I would love to hear how yours comes out as well. I am considering doing a blend of that yeast with 3711 to make sure it finishes low.

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The yeast worked well for me in the primary. It went in at 1.060 (a little higher than I expected) and was 1.012 when I transferred to the secondary. It was very aggressive and I only avoided needing a blow off because I had just about 5 gallons of wort in a 7 gallon bucket. I've given it a few shakes while in the secondary, but I don't think that it will end much lower than what I have.

I'll be sure to share some notes with you when it's ready for drinking. I'd love to do one AG when I have the equipment (hopefully some time this summer).

oh, forgot to answer your temp question. I pitched at about 70º and my basement stays in the range of 65-68º Looks like people are going higher with their saisons, but I'm limited to only using my unfinished basement for all brewing related activities for now.

BTW, tasted my first bottle after about 2 weeks conditioning and I'm loving it. It's definitely a little green, but it's got a great Belgian flavor. I will be brewing this again ... and adding more sugar as people in this thread have suggested.

Genjin, any feedback on how yours is going?

Thanks for the update brewvac. I really want to do a blend with 3711 and 3724. I have heard a number of breweries in the US use a small percentage of 3711 in their saisons to dry them out.

Mine is coming along nicely after three weeks in Primary. I think I will be bottling this week. It is down to 0.998! I had thought that I was making a medium abv brew, but we are now around 7.6% alcohol. Has some nice flavors, slightly citrusy/lemony and a hint of some funkyness. No real strong esters that I can pick up. It is bone dry, as you might imagine at that gravity, but has decent body.

I think I may have picked up some fusels as it is warming as you drink it, similar maybe to wine. However, this is also the strongest beer that I have made and I was drinking my sample at room temp. It doesn't smell particularly solventy. Can't wait to get it carbed up!

Genjin said:

Thanks for the update brewvac. I really want to do a blend with 3711 and 3724. I have heard a number of breweries in the US use a small percentage of 3711 in their saisons to dry them out.

Mine is coming along nicely after three weeks in Primary. I think I will be bottling this week. It is down to 0.998! I had thought that I was making a medium abv brew, but we are now around 7.6% alcohol. Has some nice flavors, slightly citrusy/lemony and a hint of some funkyness. No real strong esters that I can pick up. It is bone dry, as you might imagine at that gravity, but has decent body.

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Sounds like yours is coming out great. I was also surprised how high my ABV was - I ended somewhere around 6.5%. That yeast blend sounds like a cool experiment. I'm already planning on brewing another saison batch when I'm done with this one and I'll be playing around with the yeast - maybe I'll pick up a couple of 3 gallon carboys, split the batch and try different yeasts in each.

Just bottled this up today. It had cleared better than expected. The sample I pulled was just awesome. Some really interesting flavors going and a dry, tart finish. Can't wait till it is carbed up! I'll have to be careful though as this is definitely not a session beer.