Ommegang Hennepin Clone (w/ additions)

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adamjackson

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I was recommended by a friend to brew this so I'm doing my first Saison as my 9th batch of beer. It's going to sit for month or so in the primary before I serve it at our company party the 3rd week of September. So, I have about 2 months on this one to brew and keg and carbonate.

This is the beer I'm cloning.

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I went ahead and added it to my BeerAlchemy software with a couple of changes.

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So, basically it is the same recipe but a few changes:

  • I don't have Belgian Clear Candi Sugar so I'm going to make my own amber sugar in the sauce-pan from table sugar. (using this guide)
  • I'm also going to add 1 pound of honey but I'm going to add it to the carboy (there wasn't an option for this in my software).
  • Finally, I have 4 ounces of sweet orange peels that will be boiled for a minute or so and then added to the carboy 1 week into fermenting

This does put me outside of the Saison style just a tad but I think it's going to taste great. Not critiquing the recipe, are these 3 changes to it I just listed going to do anything terrible? I'm still pretty new so want to make sure these don't ruin it.
 
Thanks in advance for any help on this one. I'm going to be brewing in about 30 minutes so any feedback on the honey and orange would be super helpful!
 
I would only say that the maize and hulls are useless in this as it's extract and not a partial or full mash. The hulls are used to help a stuck sparge ( which you won't possibly have) and the maize is used for mouthfeel and head retentive properties though it needs some 2 row or base malt to help conversion. This is what I've read and have been told by many an AG brewer. It may just give you starchy haze which I guess is to style in a saison. That can be accomplished in not used clearing agents.

Your three changes seem fine to me though! Tasty!
 
I would only say that the maize and hulls are useless in this as it's extract and not a partial or full mash. The hulls are used to help a stuck sparge ( which you won't possibly have) and the maize is used for mouthfeel and head retentive properties though it needs some 2 row or base malt to help conversion. This is what I've read and have been told by many an AG brewer. It may just give you starchy haze which I guess is to style in a saison. That can be accomplished in not used clearing agents.

Your three changes seem fine to me though! Tasty!

Crap...but that totally makes sense. At least makes sense explained that way. Really, with just a partial mass (grain in a bag), the hulls and maize aren't really all that necessary if I'm going to then bring it back to a boil and THEN add DME.

Yeah, well, this is an extract recipe and I was told it does come out nicely so Im gonna go for it and see what happens. I'm already on the DME addition. Insane break in the boiling but I ended up alright.
 
You'll be fine methinks. Just don't use any irishmoss or other clearing agents. Those additions of the hulls and maize won't knock you but may just help in appearance for a saison. Pilsen has lots o hot break.
 
You'll be fine methinks. Just don't use any irishmoss or other clearing agents. Those additions of the hulls and maize won't knock you but may just help in appearance for a saison. Pilsen has lots o hot break.

Oh trust me....that hot break was INSANE! I had to kill the gas burner three times as my spray bottle and stiring was doing nothing and I kept reaching the top of the 8 gallon kettle. Finally, after the third kill of the gas, we were fine and it just boiled normally for 45 minutes.
 
So, I went for 2 ounces of sweet orange peels instead of 4 given the threads I've seen here. My candied sugar may or may not have worked out but it did start to candy and was amber in appearance. IDK. We'll see how this comes out.

The wort is chilling now. Once I switch from blow-off tube to airlock, I'll add the 1 pound of honey.
 
I would have just used table sugar instead of candi sugar. There are several thread about light candi sugar and even very good homebrewers agree that candi sugar is kind of a waste unless you are getting some color from it.
 
I kegged the beer yesterday and force carbed. It tastes great but the oranges are a bit TOO strong. I'm sure time will help this balance out. It's only been 3 weeks and a day since it was brewed.

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How did this turn out over time? How does it compare to Hennepin (minus the orange)? When was the recipe written...do you think the Forbidden Fruit is the right yeast, or was it written before the saison yeasts were on the market?
 
I'm bottling mine this week. I used the BYO recipe posted above (slightly different than Adam's) and used Wyeast 1214. I'll post back in a few weeks once this has time to carb at least a little.
 
Finally got around to bottling mine last night. I tasted my gravity sample to see where it finished. When I brewed this I left the ginger root and the orange peel in the feremnter from the kettle. The ginger is VERY potent in both aroma and taste. Not offensive, but dominate. There is also a strong floral aroma with a hint of clove spice. Had a little bit of alcohol burn too. I'm betting mine will mellow out after a month or two of conditioning. We'll see.
 
How did this turn out over time? How does it compare to Hennepin (minus the orange)? When was the recipe written...do you think the Forbidden Fruit is the right yeast, or was it written before the saison yeasts were on the market?

I was there for a tour a couple of weeks ago, and I asked about the yeast for Hennepin. The tour guide said that all of the year-round beers (e.g. Abbey Ale, Hennepin, etc) were brewed with the same yeast. And the same strain is used for bottle conditioning, so you could culture it up. However, I don't think the strain is commercially available to homebrewers.
 
Tried one last night after spending a week in the fridge. The ginger is still very dominant in the aroma and flavor profiles, but not off-putting. There is a satisfying fruity-spiciness coming through now that it has been bottle conditioned. This is a wonderful beer despite the heavy ginger. Not an exact Hennepin clone, but definitely in the same neighborhood.
 
Thanks for the update. I've been following this thread and thinking about making this my next brew according to your recipe but a bit lighter on the orange and ginger. Good job.
 
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