FunkWerks Tropic King Saison

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BudzAndSudz

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Wrote to Gordon today and got the following response. For those of you who have had this beer, you know it's a delicious brew.

OG 1.065
FG 1.007
5.6 SRM
30 IBU

Pale Malt 2L 76%
Munich 10L 16%
Wheat malt 5%
Carapils 3%

144F 10min
158F 20min
170F 10min

Rakau 12.7AA 60min 0.415oz/5gallon
Rakau 12.7AA 10min 0.484oz/5gallon
Opal 7.9AA 0min 0.668oz/5gallon
Rakau 12.7AA Dry hop 0.634oz/5gallon

Wyeast 3711 French Saison pitch at 65, ramp up to 75 over 48 hours.


Here's my problem- my mash-tun is just made out of a 10-gallon Gatorade cooler, so those three different mash temps won't really be possible unless I start small and keep adding boiling water until the temps are right but that sounds like an enormous pain to me. Should I just try to mash in my boil-pot to hit those rests, or does anyone have a recommendation for a single temperature that should produce a similar final product?
 
That's not a bad idea. Gordon just wrote me back and said a single-rest mash around 150-152 would work as well so I'll probably just do that. Eventually I'll have a mash-tun capable of multiple temperatures but until then this will have to do.

Does anyone have a way to calculate how much the total grain bill will need to be to hit an OG of 1.065? He just gave me the percentages, but I'm sure there's a program out there that can do all the math for me...
 
Brewers Friend has a calculator that you can use to tweak #s and figure it out. Just add your grain in percentage ratio, and then tweak slightly. Other software will do it more easily, but this is free:
http://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/calculator

I'd start with about 9lbs of Pale Malt and calculate the specialty from there. Then just tweak a bit. A simple excel spreadsheet would make all of your changes in proportion if you change just the pale

this beer is delicious...cheers!
 
When he says Pale Malt do you think he's referring to American 2-Row Pale, or Pale Ale Malt? I would assume the 2-Row, but this beer has such a funky flavor I don't want to assume anything.
 
Just out of curiosity then, which one was your favorite of his brews? I thought they were all really similar, interesting to hear you were offput by the Tropic King but not the rest.
 
I had this beer the other day for the first time, was only in the bottle for 1 week. super tasty I would like to make me some.
 
Is 3711 really their yeast? Cuz with that mash schedule I have a hard time believing it stops at 1.007 - that yeast is insane and eats all the sugars
 
only a 40 minute mash? Is that to compensate the time for rampup?

One a commercial scale that's all that's needed. You have about 30 minutes for mash in, 15 minute rest, 15 minute vorlauf and then you start your lauter. That seems short but the grains have already been wet and converting for an hour, plus the lauter takes 90 minutes, so you really do get full conversion.
 
Right, wasn't thinking of commercial brewing numbers....I BIAB so the time just hurt my brain for a minute....
 
This looks like an interesting brew to try. I would like to do this one but I do not have a temp controlled ferm chamber yet. If I ferment at my basement temp which is about 69 degrees how much impact would that have? Also would I need to consider a different yeast as well?

Thanks!
 
69 will work pretty well with the yeast. My last saison I did with it I just fermented in my closet before I even knew temp controll was a thing and I would say it was high 60s low 70s and it turned out fantastic.
 
This is my next brew, pretty excited. Brew Brothers has the hops if people are looking for em. Gordon has been a big help with the few questions I've been asking him. This is going to be my brithday brew and here is to it being my best one yet :) The recipe was recently posted in a magazine Craft Beer and Brewing, mash states its 150 for 75 minutes.
 
Looks like a good recipe. My lhbs dosent have the hops and Id hate to order 2 ounces of hops online. What about subbing citra? It sounds like the flavor of the beer matches citra perfectly.
 
There's no way I could mash at 150 and make this beer and have my FG be anything other than 1.000.

I feel like I'd mash at 158 and even then IDK.
 
Think I am going to make this this weekend if I can find the time. Sounds delicious.


Let me know what your recipe looks like... I'm trying to put it together but it's not adding up for me. 1.065 isn't going to get me the 8% ABV that Tropic King advertises without adding sugar but the original recipe didn't say anything about sugar.
 
Let me know what your recipe looks like... I'm trying to put it together but it's not adding up for me. 1.065 isn't going to get me the 8% ABV that Tropic King advertises without adding sugar but the original recipe didn't say anything about sugar.
 
Let me know what your recipe looks like... I'm trying to put it together but it's not adding up for me. 1.065 isn't going to get me the 8% ABV that Tropic King advertises without adding sugar but the original recipe didn't say anything about sugar.
I will try to get it into beersmith tonight and report back. I do 6 gallon batches so it may be a bit different.

1.065 down to 1.005 is 8% ABV
 
Thanks!! Let me know how your brew day goes. I'm still deciding if I should brew this or a black saison recipe I've been working on.
 
Making this this weekend but subbing in summit for rakau hops. I don't have access to FW's in Iowa to know how close this would be anyway so I am not too worried.
 
Looking forward to what you get for FG. Like I said I have a hard time believing you can mash at 150 and end up with 1.007 with that yeast.
 
yea I would mash at like 155 if not even higher, when I tried this beer my FG tanked. 1.002-3
 
Thanks for the tips. I will look into the recipe some more tonight on Beersmith. I think it has it going down to 1.005 so a bit farther than FW's. I will adjust the mash temp to get it all in line.

My question is how long to keep it at 75? Never made a Saison to know the temp profile these generally ferment at.
 
Did a gravity after a week at 76 and it was at 1.008. Probably bottle it in the next week or so. Didn't get a lot of citrus from the nose or taste like I expected. I'm not a Saison expert though. Another club member made this a week before me. curious to do a side by side.
 
Post up some tasting notes when its all carbed and ready. Debating on this being my next beer.
 
Bottled about 6.5 gallons last weekend. Thank god for 22oz bombers! I think I had somewhere around 39 capped and carbing up. Probably try one out next week sometime, but plan to leave a majority alone for a month or so.
 
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