Anyone ever try a Saison?

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Kugster

Kugster

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I just had a Saison Dupont lst night for the first time and having a Hennepin today. These are Belgium Farmhouse ales. This is some good stuff! Nice golden color with a nice fruity/spicey flavor...even bottle conditioned! So I think I am going to save the yeast and try to make something similar. Pretty strong stuff too...7% :rockin:
 
Yup -- I enjoy them a lot. SWMBO wants me to brew some-- but the fermentation temp is so high that I can't do it with my current setup.
 
Never had one, i think i saw a 31 monts in my homebrewery store, which i think is a saison.
I'll probably try to make a saison during the summer when the temperatures get too high for my Temperature controll system - blowing air into the fermenter - to work.
 
EdWort said:
I like them, but wait for the summer time so I can ferment them in the 80s.
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Did not know these had a high ferment temp?? Actually my 365 beer a day calander has a recipe for one but it does not say anything about temps...I just double checked and it says pitch at 80* and ferment 70-75*. I'll have to look into this and brew one.

Stevorino said:
Yup -- I enjoy them a lot. SWMBO wants me to brew some-- but the fermentation temp is so high that I can't do it with my current setup.
Click to expand...

Yeah...SWMBO actually liked this one too...and she is a BMC drinker:confused: Might be able to sway her more to my side!!!:ban:
 
Kugster said:
Did not know these had a high ferment temp?? Actually my 365 beer a day calander has a recipe for one but it does not say anything about temps...I just double checked and it says pitch at 80* and ferment 70-75*. I'll have to look into this and brew one.
Click to expand...

I just bought all the materials I need to brew this bad boy. It seems like a great recipe so I am really stoked to brew it! I actually just posted a thread about it here

Since I live in Massachusetts and like to keep the thermostat down in the winter (~63-65) I plan on waiting a few more weeks before I brew it, but when I do brew it I'll wrap the fermenter in some old shirts and towels then place the whole apparatus in a small cabinet where between keeping the fermenter wrapped and then this door closed will prevent much in terms of temperature fluctuations and keep it within that 70-75 temp range...if anything I think itll end up with a cleaner finish and maybe just take a little longer to brew
 
Kugster said:
I just had a Saison Dupont lst night for the first time and having a Hennepin today.
Click to expand...

Both excellent beers. Back in 2001, some friends and I visited the Dupont brewery. We left Brussels after an early breakfast, and I seem to recall it was like 9am when we reached the brewery. There was a little pub across the street from the brewery - and I mean, little like it could be someone's house. We started the morning with some Saisons. That's a quick start to your morning. :drunk:

They don't really do tours at the brewery, but no one seemed to mind us walking around the place and through the buildings while they were working. :rockin:
 
I suggest a run of the mill heating pad from CVS, et al, wrapped around the carboy and tied in place with string. This is how I keep things in check, especially in the winter when my brewhouse is a chilly 57f most of the time.
 
GloHoppa said:
I just bought all the materials I need to brew this bad boy. It seems like a great recipe so I am really stoked to brew it! I actually just posted a thread about it here

Since I live in Massachusetts and like to keep the thermostat down in the winter (~63-65) I plan on waiting a few more weeks before I brew it, but when I do brew it I'll wrap the fermenter in some old shirts and towels then place the whole apparatus in a small cabinet where between keeping the fermenter wrapped and then this door closed will prevent much in terms of temperature fluctuations and keep it within that 70-75 temp range...if anything I think itll end up with a cleaner finish and maybe just take a little longer to brew
Click to expand...

70-75 will not create a saison. It could still be delicious but it not have the fruity sweet flavor and crisp mouthfeel of a saison. Ideally you need to get it up into the 80's - 82-84 (or even 86-88 for a DuPont clone) for the first five days of fermentation. Then a warm condition 72-74 for the remainder of primary and the you let the temp fall as much as you want.

Buy a heating pad or I use a submersible aquarium thermometer in a swamp cooler. I paid $25 delivered for my heater and it maintains temps to within a degree up to 88.
 
I'm a big fan of Saisons- I had a Avec Les Bon Voyeux from Brasserie Dupont on Friday night- it was like heaven in a glass. I also really like the Hennepin- there's a bottle in the cellar screaming my name, and today's 365 bottles of beer for the year calendar has a recipe that I'll surely be trying soon.
 
One of my absolute favorite styles.

You definitely need to ferment quite warm, or save this one for the warmer months of the year and let the fermentation temps just go as they wish.
 
I really like the few Saisons that I have tried. I am definitely planning to brew one of these this spring, in preparation for the summer. I am planning to use the heater pad my SWMBO bought for her plumeria plants. She doesn't know it yet though. :D

A buddy of mine who has just started brewing is doing an extract Saison. I recommended he put the fermenter near a heater vent to keep it warm. Out of curiosity, how does it come out if the temps are lower, like around 75?
 
BlackDogBrewing said:
I'm a big fan of Saisons- I had a Avec Les Bon Voyeux from Brasserie Dupont on Friday night- it was like heaven in a glass. I also really like the Hennepin- there's a bottle in the cellar screaming my name, and today's 365 bottles of beer for the year calendar has a recipe that I'll surely be trying soon.
Click to expand...

Me Too! I've been getting each beer so far...well most of them...can't find some. I will try this recipe too this summer.
 
I fermented my Saison around 70 degrees last summer. The result was a little tamer than I was hoping for (lacking the more complex yeast byproducts) but still perfectly good beer and very drinkable. The end result is more like a cross between a Saison and a Dubbel.

If you can get the temp up to 80, I suspect that would be better, but it won't ruin your beer if it's a little lower. I've heard that saison yeast can give up entirely if the temp drops too low, though, so typical winter temperatures in the 60's are probably not going to work at all.
 
Glad I read this thread. I was about to brew a saison (hennepin clone) in a couple weeks. Guess I will have to wait till at least late spring. :(
 
dontman said:
Ideally you need to get it up into the 80's - 82-84 (or even 86-88 for a DuPont clone) for the first five days of fermentation. Then a warm condition 72-74 for the remainder of primary
Click to expand...

I would urge caution with this approach.

I have not used the DuPont strain (although I plan to), and I understand it is incredibly finicky, and extremely high starting temperatures may be advisable. And the temperature profile you are recommending is described in the book Farmhouse Ales.

But...

A high starting temperature can lead to production of higher alcohols, which I understand can be a little unpleasant in taste and can also lead to intense headaches.

I know with the WY3711 strain, I have had good success starting ~70, then ramping to the low to mid-80's over the course of 3-4 days. I've fermented beers with OGs of 1.068-74 down to 1.004-6 in about 5 days with that strain. The lower starting temps mellow the alcohols, and the high finishing temps dry the beer out. Similar approach to abbey/trappist beers.

I think that the Saison II from White Labs, which apparently is a little easier to finish than the DuPont strain, would also benefit from a stepped approach. There was a Brewing Network show where this was discussed.
 
Sixbillionethans said:
I would urge caution with this approach.

I have not used the DuPont strain (although I plan to), and I understand it is incredibly finicky, and extremely high starting temperatures may be advisable. And the temperature profile you are recommending is described in the book Farmhouse Ales.

But...

A high starting temperature can lead to production of higher alcohols, which I understand can be a little unpleasant in taste and can also lead to intense headaches.

I know with the WY3711 strain, I have had good success starting ~70, then ramping to the low to mid-80's over the course of 3-4 days. I've fermented beers with OGs of 1.068-74 down to 1.004-6 in about 5 days with that strain. The lower starting temps mellow the alcohols, and the high finishing temps dry the beer out. Similar approach to abbey/trappist beers.

I think that the Saison II from White Labs, which apparently is a little easier to finish than the DuPont strain, would also benefit from a stepped approach. There was a Brewing Network show where this was discussed.
Click to expand...

Ordinarily I would be giving this exact advice concerning the fusel alcohols but this is not my experience with at least the WLP Saison. Just to be clear I do do a ramp to 84 but only over a course of 24-48 hours from the beginning of ferment. And I pitch at 74-76.

You are right though, Saisons can be a very fine balance between esters and fusels. Here's the thing though. The fusels will fade with time if you find them to be too much in the beginning but there is no back-adding esters so you might be trading a quicker drinking beer for a more standard Belgian.

And there is no mistaking the fact that the Brasserie de Blaugies Saison I had last week got the majority of its wonderful character from the high temp ferment.

And to answer a question asked in another post, if you ferment at the low '70's then you will get a Belgian pale basically. A potentially very tasty beer just not with the Saison spice and fruit.
 
dontman said:
Ordinarily I would be giving this exact advice concerning the fusel alcohols but this is not my experience with at least the WLP Saison. Just to be clear I do do a ramp to 84 but only over a course of 24-48 hours from the beginning of ferment. And I pitch at 74-76.
Click to expand...

Yup...WLP565 for two weeks in the mid/upper 80s is the ticket to full attenuation and all those tasty spicy saison notes.
 

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