Saison Ole Zion Church Saison

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I doubled this recipe and brewed up a 10 gal batch with the plan to add some H2O and drop it down into the session ABV range. (Needed to do something for the women and the faint-hearted) Had some last minute problems and couldn't use my 25 gal brewkettle, so the boil was a bit of a challenge but we persisted. Ended up with ~ 8-9 gal and diluted up to almost 12.

Fermented in 15 gal glass carboy. Kegged 5 gal and bottled about the same last week. I don't have the g readings with me, but post boil and OG were exactly where I expected even with the issues we had. FG was actually a bit lower than expected but nothing wrong with that. Smelled and tasted great. Looking forward to drinking the finished product.

And looking forward to doing the original in the future. Next time I think we'll split the batch and make a big and little boy version.
 
That's awesome! Please keep us informed how it turns out. I like the idea of turning this into a session beer. I may try that and omit the peppercorns.
 
So I finally cracked open my first bottle of this today. It's only 2.5 weeks in the bottle, but it tastes good so far. I left the peppercorns in the primary for the full 4 weeks and I can definitely taste quite a bit of pepper. It might even be a little overpowering honestly. Adding them with 2 weeks left probably would have been a better idea, but the pepper might mellow a bit.
 
Fritobandito said:
So I finally cracked open my first bottle of this today. It's only 2.5 weeks in the bottle, but it tastes good so far. I left the peppercorns in the primary for the full 4 weeks and I can definitely taste quite a bit of pepper. It might even be a little overpowering honestly. Adding them with 2 weeks left probably would have been a better idea, but the pepper might mellow a bit.

The pepper will mellow out for sure, I opened my first one at 6 weeks and the pepper was still noticeable, after 2 months it is a perfect blend of spice from the yeast and peppercorn
 
The pepper will mellow out for sure, I opened my first one at 6 weeks and the pepper was still noticeable, after 2 months it is a perfect blend of spice from the yeast and peppercorn

The aroma is fine and the pepper isn't too strong. It's just the taste that it's SLIGHTLY too strong. I mean it might even be just me because I tend to judge my own brews pretty harshly.
 
Hey! So I brewed this, and it has been in bottles for a little over a month but there is still quite a bit of suspended material. Apparently this is possibly the result of pectin extraction during the boil. Has anyone else experienced this?

Also, I used some store brand black peppercorns instead of pink peppercorns and I have noticed that the pepper flavor is slightly stale. I boiled them as per the directions, but also threw some into the post fermentation. Could this stale pepper flavor be the result of low quality peppercorns?

Otherwise, the flavor is really awesome. I like how the hop flavor interacts with the orange peel. This beer was also my driest fermenting to date! So that is exciting...

Thanks for the recipe and the input!

Nick
 
Hey! So I brewed this, and it has been in bottles for a little over a month but there is still quite a bit of suspended material. Apparently this is possibly the result of pectin extraction during the boil. Has anyone else experienced this?

Also, I used some store brand black peppercorns instead of pink peppercorns and I have noticed that the pepper flavor is slightly stale. I boiled them as per the directions, but also threw some into the post fermentation. Could this stale pepper flavor be the result of low quality peppercorns?

Otherwise, the flavor is really awesome. I like how the hop flavor interacts with the orange peel. This beer was also my driest fermenting to date! So that is exciting...

Thanks for the recipe and the input!

Nick

Did you add fruit to this? Should be no pectin at all......on the other hand I did have alot of haze in the bottles, but once they are in the fridge for 72+ hours that will all settle out. It will be semi cloudy due to the wheat.

As the pepper taset is concerned it Could be old peppercorns, not sure about it though

Glad you liked the recipe and as I said before give it time to mature

Cheers :mug:
 
Been meaning to update this for a while. I was really happy with the results both in the bottle and in the keg.

I used black peppercorns instead of pink and I did modify the citrus peel a bit and used equal amounts of lemon and orange peels and I also tossed in a small amount of fresh ginger that I had leftover from another batch.

The first few times I tried it, the coriander and ginger were rather prominent but have since mellowed very nicely and the citrus shines through at a nice level now. I think it's a really nice example of the saison and would definitely brew it again. I never really noticed the peppercorns and think a more peppery note would be a good thing. I would probably gently crack the peppercorns at the end of the boil or leave them in the fermenter.

Most of my friends enjoyed this on tap a few weeks ago but many of them were saison virgins and I think they were a bit confused by the slight funk of the style.
 
Anyone else brew this? I'm gonna do it again minus the peppercorn and orange peel, and try my luck with figs and ECY20 Bug Country.
 
Took advantage of the great weather last night and brewed this up on the porch. LHBS was out of belgian pils and biscuit, so I substituted german pils and cara-belge. Couldn't find pink peppercorns so I subbed a blend that had white, green, pink and black. Also used 3724 instead of 3711.

I bought enough ingredients for a 10 gallon batch but just brewed 5 instead. Ordered some pink peppercorns online for the next batch. The brew shop only had 1 pack of 3724 and no 3711, but he did have the 1581 Belgian stout that says it can be used for Belgian Pale Ale, Belgian Specialty Ale, Belgian Dubbel, Triple and Quad, Belgian Strong Golden and Dark Ales, Belgian Blonde Ale, Saison so I'll be using that instead. I'll let you know how everything turns out.
 
That's what is all about...experimentation. please keep me posted how your 2 batches turns out. Once I heal from my surgery I'm brewing 10 gallons myself. Cheers!
 
That's a huge saison! Very interesting grain bill, thanks for posting the recipe, I will definitely be trying a version of this
 
I brewed this over a year ago and left the peppercorns in the primary for 4 weeks. I would highly suggest NOT DOING THIS. Over a year later and the pepper is still way too strong and it's undrinkable. Just dumped around 40 bottles.
 
Just bottled this with a couple minor changes. Used D-45 syrup and I could not find pink peppercorns so I used a peppercorn mix that did have some pink ones in the mix.

Mighhty tasty brew. Cannot wait unitl it is carbed and conditioned. Very nice.
 
I'll be brewing a 3gal batch of this tomorrow, minus the peppercorns. Will substitute Maris Otter for Optic, cause that's what I have :)
 
I'm thinking of making this and adding a half a pound of midnight wheat to make it dark. My understanding is the midnight wheat won't change the taste much.

Thoughts?
 
Just ordered the bill for this, and added 1/2 a pound of chocolate Wheat to make it darker in color. Looking forward to it. Just need to find some pink peppercorns.
 
I'll be brewing my dark version of this on Friday. Haven't found the pink pepercorns yet, but will search again after work tomorrow.
 
Just finished brewing a dark version of this. I didn't use the peppercorns, and my OG is 1.072. I expect it to finish really dry, so should be 9% or more.

Gravity sample tasted great.

I pitched it onto a 3711 yeast cake from another saison I brewed, which finished at 1.000 and tastes amazing! I'll try to post the recipe.
 
Not being a peppercorn expert.... how much difference is there between the flavor of black and pink peppercorns?
 
Pink was almost perfume like to me. Maybe others had a different experience. I'm going to try green peppercorns this year.


Sent from Cheese Doodle Land.
 
We have a great market in Columbus that I frequent when I'm in the area that has a spice store. Try to find something like this in your area. Go there and tell them that you are using it in beer. I've had all sorts of cool conversations with the employees about adding other neat spices to beer, mostly on their recommendations. My favorite part is that you can pick up and smell whatever you want before buying it. I could spend all day sniffin crap there.


Sent from Cheese Doodle Land.
 
Have my pink "peppercorns" and will be brewing this over Memorial Day Weekend. Curious though.... What is the purpose of multiple step sparge?

Mash in 11.55 qt at 164 Hold at 148 for 75 min
Batch sparge .46 gal at 175
Batch sparge 2.08 gal at 175
Batch sparge 2.08 gal at 175


.... and how important is it? I have traditionally fly sparged.
 
I'm not the OPer, but I'll tell you that I didn't do all of the sparge steps. I DID do a mash out at 200F and a single batch sparge. Turned out lovely. Not sure what you are asking though, I guess.


Sent from Cheese Doodle Land.
 
Id like to try this as an extract recipe with a few tweaks, please critique:
Also, those who have brewed this without peppercorns, how did that turn out?
Would like to use Perle as dual purpose, does this work w the maris otter?

Extract Recipe (5.5 Gallon)


Extracts (half @ 60min, 1/2 @ 20min)
4lb Amber LME
3lb Maris Otter LME
1lb Wheat LME
4oz Aromatic (steeped @ 165 for 20min)
4oz Biscuit (steeped)
1oz Perle @60min
.5oz Perle @15min
1 Whirlfloc Tab @ 15min
1oz Sweet Orange Peel @ 15min
1oz Crushed Coriander @ 15min
.5oz Hersbrucker @ 0min
.5oz Perle @0min
2 tsp Wyeast Beer Yeast Nutrient @ 0min
Wyeast 3711 (pitch @ 60 degrees, let rise to 79)
1lb Sugar in Primary after Krausen Drops

Please advise, would like to buy ingredients on Friday for Sunday brewday. Thank you
 
I just moved this to the keg a couple days ago. Turned out awesome. I modified it slightly. I used WLP566 instead of the Wyeast and grains of paradise instead of the peppercorns. I also went halvsies on the Maris and the Wheat, 2.5 lbs each. Also, my LHBS was out of D45 candy syrup so I had to chose between the golden and the D90. Went with the D90. It sure is dark... My OG was 1.065 and FG was 1.010 which is just over 7%.

So far it's fantastic. It just carbed up last night and I wanted to keep drinking it. It starts out sweet and malty, then a huge orange explosion followed by the spice/pepper. One of the more complex beers I've ever brewed. I'm thinking the orange will settle over time. I'm excited to see how this ages. I'm going to have to bottle some and set them aside.

Thank for the recipe. I will definitely brew again.
 
This turned out really sweet for me. I'm surprised by that because it went from 1.076 to 1.006. Not sure if that is from using the 45 candi sugar? Anybody else notice that. It is delicious, just not what I was expecting. I harvested some yeast from a Prairie Artisan Ales bottle and that worked out great.
 
This is next on the "to brew" list, this weekend. I've never brewed (or drank) a beer that uses peppercorns so I'm very interested in seeing how this will end up, I like the spicy/sweet flavor combo, so should be something tasty!
 
Drinking this currently and yeah, thanks for the recipe man this is freaking TASTY. At first the peppercorns were a bit much but it's mellowing out sooo nice. You taste the pepper, then the orange peel and coriander, and finally it finishes with that delicious pilsner maltiness. For my first time making a saison I am very happy with the results.
 

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