Saison Cottage House Saison

Wow. 6 days and I am at 1.004. Crazy. This yeast is amazing. The sample tastes incredible as well. Thanks for a killer recipe. And opening my eyes to Belgians and Home Brew!


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SFGiantsFan925 said:

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Wow. 6 days and I am at 1.004. Crazy. This yeast is amazing. The sample tastes incredible as well. Thanks for a killer recipe. And opening my eyes to Belgians and Home Brew!


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The recipe is just a list of ingredients... It's the brewer who works the magic!

Congrats on a fine looking beer!

azscoob said:

The recipe is just a list of ingredients... It's the brewer who works the magic!

Congrats on a fine looking beer!

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Thanks! The sample was great. Pretty much what I was going for. Especially for my first Belgian. Spice, slight sweetness, and some of the fruity phenols that make them so unique. I am so happy I have a ferm chamber that is temp controlled. Not sure I could have made this beer without it.

SFGiantsFan925 said:

Thanks! The sample was great. Pretty much what I was going for. Especially for my first Belgian. Spice, slight sweetness, and some of the fruity phenols that make them so unique. I am so happy I have a ferm chamber that is temp controlled. Not sure I could have made this beer without it.

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One of the nice things about the 3711 yeast I chose when coming up with this recipe is that it works well at most any temp, so those who haven't set up a ferm chamber or who don't have the room for one can still brew this without much issue, though maybe not quite what I was shooting for phenol-wise but still a darned serviceable beer!

This recipe seems to be such a hit because it tastes great, yet is quite simple to brew and that makes it less intimidating for new brewers who would otherwise shy away from a Belgian beer because people think they are super complex difficult beers to brew.

I recently did a google search of my recipe and there are many many sites with the recipe posted, blogs about it, youtube videos...

Heck, maybe I should take my label design and put it on t shirts to sell along with my other shirt designs!


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This recipe is on my list of "must brew" this year.
Has anyone bottled it in Belgium or Champagne corked bottles?

Yellowirenut said:

This recipe is on my list of "must brew" this year.
Has anyone bottled it in Belgium or Champagne corked bottles?

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Yup.

I hate messing with corks though, so I have since switched to the bottle capped champagne bottles for my beers, I love em and no need for a corker or cages, just cap and lay down.


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azscoob said:

Yup.

I hate messing with corks though, so I have since switched to the bottle capped champagne bottles for my beers, I love em and no need for a corker or cages, just cap and lay down.


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Is this meant to be aged or is it meant to be drank rather fresh?? I was thinking of bottling 2 of the 5 gallons, and laying it down for a bit and seeing how they age. Always like to see how recipes develop over time.

SFGiantsFan925 said:

Is this meant to be aged or is it meant to be drank rather fresh?? I was thinking of bottling 2 of the 5 gallons, and laying it down for a bit and seeing how they age. Always like to see how recipes develop over time.

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I prefer it fresh and fairly young, but it ages nicely, but loses a lot of the brightness and subtle flavors from the hops and esters

Well I haven't made a saison before, but I do love 'em. Since I haven't made one before, I decided to use this recipe as a base. I did a couple of very subtle changes. I expect it to come out excellent. I'll see how it finishes, and make some changes to my liking for next time.

Anyway, I hit my mash temp 100% (verified by my new thermapen first time using it!) I did 10gallons, so my mash tun wasn't big enough for the 212f water addition, so I probably got half of that in there. I don't expect it to cause too much issue.

I hit my final boil volume at 11gallons on the nose.

My efficiency was high (as I expected it to be) I came out at 1.068

The changes I made was:

I did EKG instead of fuggles
I did organic raw wildflower honey that I got off Craig's list from a guy who has a few hives, it's the best honey I've ever had. So I added lemon zest for some citrus.

We will see how it turns out... I may rack half on some peaches.

insanim8er said:

Well I haven't made a saison before, but I do love 'em. Since I haven't made one before, I decided to use this recipe as a base. I did a couple of very subtle changes. I expect it to come out excellent. I'll see how it finishes, and make some changes to my liking for next time.

Anyway, I hit my mash temp 100% (verified by my new thermapen first time using it!) I did 10gallons, so my mash tun wasn't it enough for the 212f water addition, so I probably got half of that in there. I don't expect it to cause too much issue.

I hit my final boil volume at 11gallons on the nose.

My efficiency was high (as I expected it to be) I came out at 1.068

The changes I made was:

I did EKG instead of fuggles
I did organic raw wildflower honey that I got off Craig's list from a guy who has a few hives, it's the best honey I've ever had. So I added lemon zest for some citrus.

We will see how it turns out... I may rack half on some peaches.

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Dang, that sounds damn good! Keep me posted on how it turns out

Doing my yeast starter now. My french saison yeast has been sitting in the fridge for about 6 months since the last batch of this, Figure if I add an extra 25-35mL I should be safe. We'll see if it starts bubbling!

I really do recommend 1oz of dried orange peel per 5 gallons. Combined with the pepper and the Sorachi peppery flavor, it really adds a nice sweet to the spice without really overpowering the palate.

Kegged this about 6 days ago. Tired it today. The carbonation is not where I want it, but its still darn good! For my first Saison/ Belgian its great. I wont have any problems getting through a keg of this! SWMBO even likes it. So that a plus haha. Thanks again for a great recipe. Ill post a pic when it is fully carbonated.

SFGiantsFan925 said:

Kegged this about 6 days ago. Tired it today. The carbonation is not where I want it, but its still darn good! For my first Saison/ Belgian its great. I wont have any problems getting through a keg of this! SWMBO even likes it. So that a plus haha. Thanks again for a great recipe. Ill post a pic when it is fully carbonated.

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I like mine carbed to 3 volumes or there abouts, that's where I find saisons really shine.

I look forward to the pics!


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At the 8th month mark...

Good as ever...pepper faded but overall awesome


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Well I brewed this just over 2 weeks ago. I fermented at 68 for 2 days, stepped it up to 70 for a day, then 72 for a day then 74 for a couple days, then I put it to 77 and left it.

I decided to take a small sample. It's bitter. I'm hoping that fades with some time or after I cold crash it, I think it will. I'd lie if I didn't say I am a little worried the lemon zest in the boil made it bitter, but time will tell.

Other than that, everything else was good.

I took such a small sample that I couldn't do a hydro, but I did look it up on my refractometer. I ran the numbers through a calculator to correct it. It looks like i got 83% attenuation. I'm at about .998 gravity. I'm higher in ABV than I wanted. It looks like I'm pushing 8.9% abv.

We have a beach trip planned for spring break. I wasn't going to bring this, but I'm thinking about it now. Do you think it would be ok if i keg it 3 days early to carb it up? Or should it age more than 28 days?

Finally took the pic. Not bad but not great (picture). The beer is great!!!


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Above is my rendition of this beautiful recipe!

This has been kegged for about a week now. Hoping that it will clear up a bit more after sitting for another week or so. Couldn't be happier with the results from my second attempt at brewing.

Looks like a great brew- going to put it on my to brew list.

I have some 3711 that I rinsed from a previous batch last September. It's quite a bit (guesstimate is 200 billion) but should I make a starter anyhow to wake it up?

Re: pilsner malt - is it a must to mash/boil it for 90 min or is 60 ok?

Thanks!

After some recipe tweaking, here it is at 1.009. Almost ready for kegging.

Adding this to my list this summer...

Can't wait to get everything and make it!

Thanks for sharing!

Well, my attempt at brewing a lower-alcohol version of this beer was undone by the yeast. I came in a little lower on my OG, by design, at 1.057. However, after three weeks at 70-72F, I've settled in at 0.998! This leaves me with a calculated ABV of 7.7%

I liked the way the sample tasted. Color and clarity were nice and there was some good farmhouse funk with some nice lemony citrus and black pepper. The overly strong bitterness from my OG sample has totally mellowed out and is nicely balanced with a little bit of bitterness in the aftertaste.

BTW, I did this brew BIAB and no chill (my 2nd BIAB, first NC) and was very happy with results. I can't get it any higher than 72, so I'm going to leave it at that temp for another week, see how the flavors develop, and then bottle at about 3 volumes in a few Belgian bottles and some flip top 16oz.

SFGiantsFan925 said:

Is this meant to be aged or is it meant to be drank rather fresh?? I was thinking of bottling 2 of the 5 gallons, and laying it down for a bit and seeing how they age. Always like to see how recipes develop over time.

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I actually just popped one of these that is a little better than a year old today. Tilled the garden today so I thought a farmhouse ale was in order. It was sparkling clear, surprisingly bright tasting with a super clean finish. The pepper had subsided a quite a bit and fruity esters had almost taken over but it was very nice. It was really good fresh, but it ages very well.

EdMerican said:

Tilled the garden today so I thought a farmhouse ale was in order.

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HEY HEY HEY...some of us still have snow on the ground and frozen dirt underneath. Hearing bout how good the Ale was is enough, we dont need you rubbing salt in the wound.


All in jest

Yellowirenut said:

HEY HEY HEY...some of us still have snow on the ground and frozen dirt underneath. Hearing bout how good the Ale was is enough, we dont need you rubbing salt in the wound.


All in jest

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Ha! It was 68 yesterday. Its presently 34 with sleet and snow in the forcast. Just getting things ready for a couple few weeks later. St louis weather is helmet wearing short bus window licking retarded. :-\ I DO, however, have hop sprouts coming up. Wootsauce

brent756 said:

This has been kegged for about a week now. Hoping that it will clear up a bit more after sitting for another week or so. Couldn't be happier with the results from my second attempt at brewing.

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I didnt add finings or any clarifiers to my wort. Looks great for a second attempt!!!

I did cold crash my fermenter at about 40 deg F for 2 days, then kegged. It came out pretty darn clear. Was surprised. But looks tasty!

After 2 weeks, 10 days of primary, 4 in the keg, this beer is definitely not ready to drink yet.

I can tell it will be delicious, but right now it is too spicy/peppery/yeasty.

Another week it sits, can't wait!

Here's mine. This is my second brew, and what a brew it's turning out to be. It stayed 2 weeks in the fermenter and has now been 2 weeks in the bottles, so still early days. A lot of honey aroma, very nice, full body and the foam is just great.

I almost doubled the amount of hops - accidentally somewhere on the way from imperial to metric - but it turned out not to be too bitter at all. Thought it might end up at IPA levels, but it's actually just about right.

Curious to see how the flavours will develop over the coming weeks, it's a bit sour at the moment - like apple sour - which I guess is just because it's a bit green... But the sourness is actually fairly nice and refreshing, so I'm not sure I want it all to go away. But wow, it looks stunning.

Thanks a lot for the recipe, I'm sure I'll be brewing this one again and again.

(P.S. I live less than 50 km from the border of the region of Hainaut, the home of Saison. I'll see if I can't find someone from there to give their opinion )

bjornkri said:

Here's mine. This is my second brew, and what a brew it's turning out to be. It stayed 2 weeks in the fermenter and has now been 2 weeks in the bottles, so still early days. A lot of honey aroma, very nice, full body and the foam is just great.

I almost doubled the amount of hops - accidentally somewhere on the way from imperial to metric - but it turned out not to be too bitter at all. Thought it might end up at IPA levels, but it's actually just about right.

Curious to see how the flavours will develop over the coming weeks, it's a bit sour at the moment - like apple sour - which I guess is just because it's a bit green... But the sourness is actually fairly nice and refreshing, so I'm not sure I want it all to go away. But wow, it looks stunning.

Thanks a lot for the recipe, I'm sure I'll be brewing this one again and again.

(P.S. I live less than 50 km from the border of the region of Hainaut, the home of Saison. I'll see if I can't find someone from there to give their opinion )

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Do keep me posted if you find a suitable taste tester!

Im just now racking this to kegs... I took a sample. It's on the warm side with low co2, but good lord... The lemon and pepper are intense.

It was a flavor shock to the mouth. I wasn't expecting.

Weird thing is it's transferring very clear... I ferment in kegs and pressure transfer, so I'll see how it looks when it's done. I think when it cools up and gets carbonated, it'll mellow out a little. But wow...

I'll update my final results.

Well the color is great. Clarity is better than what I'm seeing in some of these photos, but it looks pretty damn good. I'm a little worried it might clear in the keg, but a swirl will take care of that.



I know I didn't follow the recipe dead on, but damn I'm thinking this May be one of the better beers I've made to date. There is some bitterness that I'm uncertain of. I'm not sure if it'll mellow out a bit when chilled, or if it's because of the lemon zest. I'll probably use less zest next time. There is some heat on it too. It's a high abv saison. We'll see how it goes with the co2 and a better temp.

My OG was 1.068 and final gravity looks to be right at 1.002. That's about 8.6% .... whew I'm getting DRUNK weekend! We're headed to the beach for 5 days tomorrow.

Well I drank this at the beach this last week, and it was great. I felt like I was drinking a very high end beer.

It got excellent reviews for those who liked it (pretty much everyone). But the flavor is not for everyone, of course.

Some were taken back by it because it's very unique and not like any beer they've ever had, but they still enjoyed it and drank the crap out of it.

It has a lot of funkiness to it. It's dry but didn't really appear dry because of the flavors. It has bold full flavors with a lot of complexity. I enjoyed it very much and I'm happy to know there is another 5 gallons downstairs. I think this will age well and probably get better in a month or so.

My gf wasn't too keen on it, but said it was good. Just not her favorite. I think it was a little too funky and bold for her.

Maybe a dumb question, but why only a 60 minute boil when pilsner malt is used? I thought pilsner malt meant an automatic 90 minute boil? I ask cause I was plugging this recipe in Beer Smith and bitterness is off the chart for the style and I think it's cause of the FWH and 90 minute boil. Did everyone do 90 minute or 60 minute boils?

Boiling for 90 minutes is mainly to drive off DMS. With the highly modified and high quality of pilsner malt nowadays, it's not entirely necessary to boil for 90. To some it's a personal preference. If you do a 90 minute boil, just reduce your FWH by a little to get the IBUs just right. Although I don't get too much sharp bitterness from the FWH. So Beer Smith may be overdoing the IBUs in that case.

If one had to use dry yeast, what would be recommended?

Options:
Safale T-58
Safale S-33
Danstar Belle Saison

I use belle saison on a similar recipe and it had tons of the saison taste. I fermented at 75. T58 would be more fruit I think, not really the saison funk, but I have not used it in a while and never fermented it at mid 70s.

I did a small batch to try it out. My mash temps didn't hold as well as I would have liked. They kept dropping to 146 from 148. Then I would add another cup or two of boiling water to get it back up to 148. Hopefully it turns out OK. I did something wrong in my conversion from 5 gal to 1 gal cause my OG was 1.080! 3711 is going to town as we speak. I'll be back with an update.

AR-Josh said:

my OG was 1.080

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Did you dilute it down or ferment at that gravity? If you fermented it at 1.080, you'll end up with close to 10.24% ABV.

insanim8er said:

Did you dilute it down or ferment at that gravity? If you fermented it at 1.080, you'll end up with close to 10.24% ABV.

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Just went for it at that gravity. 1 gallon so it's no huge deal. I just wanted to get an idea of what 5 gallons would be like.

ETA: Probably have to condition it for a month or more to find out with that much alcohol.

milldoggy said:

I use belle saison on a similar recipe and it had tons of the saison taste. I fermented at 75. T58 would be more fruit I think, not really the saison funk, but I have not used it in a while and never fermented it at mid 70s.

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Any idea on how many packets of belle Saison are required for a 6gal batch?
I've heard conflicting reports, but everyone on here seems to think its a beast, so maybe a packet will be enough?