Carb volumes for my Saison

[Hamsterbite]

It's bottling day, and my FG ended up just a bit lower than anticipated. 1.062down to 1.009. Expected was 1.011, so not that far off. That was with two vials of WLP 566, no starter.

Anyway, it tastes great...in fact, it tastes a little too clean somehow for a saison. I did dry hop 2 oz of willamette, so maybe that has somethig to do with it? It does not have the usual funkiness of a saison, just some of the spiciness.
I'm not entering in competitions or anything, but I think this has the best bottling day flavor of anything I'v brewed so far.
BJCP says 1.9-2.4 volumes for this style. What I'm curious about, is when is it appropriate to carb to the low side vs. the high side? Would that be driven by residual sugars/dryness, ABV level, maltiness, bitterness, etc...?
At this point, I would say the taste is dry, and on the thin side. I'm thinking a higher level of carb would compliment this one better than lower, but that's just a gut feeling. I bottle in 12 oz's so I wouldn't want to press my luck with anything higher than 3 volumes. I was thinking 2.7 might do the trick.

What do yall think?

 

[bottlebomber]

Sounds like you're about right for your carb volume. As far as the flavor, what was your fermentation temp? I fermented my Saison this summer at 100 degrees and it threw amazing black pepper and funk. Absolutely delicious.

 

[Hamsterbite]

Mid 70's. The last Saison I did fermented in the low 80's and it was much funkier, and had lower attenuation.

 

[bottlebomber]

Mid 70's. The last Saison I did fermented in the low 80's and it was much funkier, and had lower attenuation.

Huh.. Saison yeasts usually require high temps to finish. Lower attenuation doesn't make sense.

 

[Hamsterbite]

Yep, I agree. I would have expected this latest one to have finished higher, not lower.

 

[Hamsterbite]

Thanks for the input BottleBomber. I went for 2.7 volumes. I'll update the thread when it's ready and let you all know what I think.

On a side note, never again will I dry hop in a bag in a glass carboy. What a PITA getting that back out of there, and not much hop aroma came through with 2 oz of whole leaf. It's not that it's hard to do, but it does require some awkward cradling of the carboy. Too much risk of slipping/breaking IMO. Next time I'll rack to a secondary on a bed of hops and siphon out with a filtered racking cane. I may just try a better bottle for that.

 

[bottlebomber]

I love buckets for dry hopping. Put em in a sanitized paint strainer bag and then squeeze them out when you're done. 5 ounces of hops can hold onto a quart of beer at least.