Brewed my first competition beer this morning!

[Evan_L]

It's not official BJCP, it's through the local brew-pub, Willimantic Brewery. They have great beers! The LHBS owner is a national beer judge and will judge alongside the brewery owner and a Sierra Nevada rep. 6 categories which aren't all that traditional and somewhat comnbined. I entered the saison/specialty. Best of show gets their beer brewed at Willibrew.

I've never made a saison...and admittedly have little experience tasting them but it was one of the few categories left...only one entry per person and a total of 36 brewers for the whole comp. I pieced together the following based on commonalities between the many recipes i researched, the flavors I was looking for, and what I had on hand (it was altered significantly last night when I crushed my grain as I thought I had more of certain grains).

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Lemon Ginger Saison
Brewer: Evan Lintz
Asst Brewer:
Style: Saison
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 8.55 gal
Post Boil Volume: 7.80 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.52 gal
Estimated OG: 1.062 SG
Estimated Color: 5.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 30.9 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 55.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 70.2 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
1.00 tbsp Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 mins Water Agent
12 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 2
1 lbs Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 5
1 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 4 5.6
1 lbs White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 5 5.
12.0 oz Rye Malt (4.7 SRM) Grain 6 4.2
12.0 oz Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 7 4.2
4.0 oz Caramel Wheat Malt (46.0 SRM) Grain 8
0.45 oz Sorachi Ace [12.00 %] - First Wort 90.0 Hop 9
0.20 oz Motueka [7.50 %] - First Wort 90.0 min Hop 10
1 lbs Candi Sugar, Clear (0.5 SRM) Sugar 11
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 12
0.50 oz Motueka [7.50 %] - Boil 12.0 min Hop 14
0.50 oz Sorachi Ace [12.00 %] - Boil 12.0 min Hop 15
0.50 oz Ginger Root (Boil 12.0 mins) Herb 13
2.50 oz Lemon Grass (Boil 8.0 mins) Herb 16
0.25 oz Seeds of Paradise (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice
0.50 oz Motueka [7.50 %] - Boil 2.0 min Hop 18
0.25 oz Sorachi Ace [12.00 %] - Boil 2.0 min Hop 19
1.0 pkg French Saison (Wyeast Labs #3711) [50.28 Yeast 20
0.60 tsp Gelatin (Secondary 5.0 days) Fining 21 -
2.40 oz Lemon Grass (Secondary 5.0 days) Herb 22


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 17 lbs 12.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 28.32 qt of water at 156.2 F 148.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun, , 4.28gal) of 168.0 F water

Sorry for the jacked up copy/paste job. Any recipe feedback would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Pappers_]

Good luck! I've been thinking of brewing with lemon grass but haven't gotten around to it yet. On Friday, I was at a meeting at Argus Brewing in Chicago and had their Wild Rice Ale, which to me exhibited many of the characteristics of a good saison - the wild rice added a nice spiciness that would work well in a saison, I think.

 

[Phunhog]

That's a pretty fancy grain bill for a farmhouse ale. Mine have usually just been some Pils,Wheat Malt, maybe a little bit of Munich, and some simple sugar. Saisons are supposed to be dry so I don't think Carapils would be a great choice since you are basically adding unfermentables.

 

[Evan_L]

crap, forgot that about the cpils. the vienna was added b/c i wanted 2# of munich but only had one, figured meh, why not. i'm hoping the rye accents the pepperyness although all i had was a pound. carawheat is just for color...****, i really have a problem adding stuff, it all sounds good and i don't know when to stop and just leave it be

 

[wonderbread23]

Never understand why people mash low and then add carapils. They are doing opposite things in the beer and basically cancelling each other out. I'd check your amounts on the lemongrass as well... it seems like a lot.

 

[Evan_L]

Thanks for pointing that out. I was thinking about head retention like a newb and didn't think about the unfermentables or that it would counteract the low mash temp. Live and learn eh. The lemongrass in the boil, based on the hydro sample, doesn't seem all that much. I want it to be subtle and complement the lemon from the Sorachi, not take over. The amount for the dry hop with it is more or less a place holder, i'll adjust it based on how it tastes after fermentation is complete. I may skip it altogether, I infused vodka with it for martinis and didn't care for the grassy/green flavor it imparted after sitting for a week, I don't want the same in the beer.

 

[Phunhog]

I think a lot of people make recipes more complicated than it needs to be. A Saison's flavors really should be driven by the yeast....everything else should be background. I read somewhere that if you can identify the spice used in Belgian style ales....you used too much. Of course many, many American breweries don't subscribe to that philosophy.