Help with my saison

[Projectfdw]

I brewed an extract saison 4 weeks ago. I made a mistake with my hop additions and when I tasted a sample today it was crazy bitter. Hoping some of the bitterness was that when I got the sample with the thief I had some hop particle. Smells great, nice and peppery and saisony(that's not a real word, is it?).

Recipe is as follows:
2# pilsner dme at 60
.5oz Nelson at 60
.5 Nelson at 45 (this was my mistake. Should have been at 30)
4# pilsner dme at 15
.5 Nelson at 15
Whitlfloc at 15
1.5 tsp ground black pepper at 15
1# honey at flameout
.5 Nelson at flameout
Wyeast 3711

Og:1.064
Fg: 1.002
Abv 8.2%

When I put the recipe into brew toad it said 52 ibu which is way high for the style. I was hoping it would be ok but the sample seemed undrinkable. Would bulk aging in the keg help? Any way to save it? Any advice would help. I'm bummed because besides that hop addition mix-up I did everything right and hit my OG right on the number.

Thanks.

 

[m1batt1]

At this point there's nothing to do but wait and see. In my experience(limited) and in reading aging will help some with the hops balancing a bit. But whether it will be enough to make it better is beyond me.

 

[Cyclman]

Hop flavors age out, give it time and it'll improve.

 

[Calder]

0.5 ozs of hops at 45 vs 30 isn't going to make much difference. certainly not going to make a decent beer into a very bitter one. You are probably tasting more the result of the yeast flavors, or not used to the dryness of the beer.

I'm not a fan of that yeast, but it's beers do improve with age and eventually turn into decent beers (about a year).

 

[stpug]

My estimation is that you should have been much closer to 30 ibus for that recipe, regardless of how you split up the hops. At a glance, I would say you may have hit it about perfect by simply leaving out the 60 minute addition.

The extreme bitterness is a double effect: 1) too bitter for the style, generally speaking, and 2) extreme dryness of the beer which serves to emphasize the bitterness.

My opinion is that you may mellow out the flavor/aroma of the hops but not the bitterness. The good thing is that you can always give it time; this style can handle aging time very well.

 

[stpug]

On second thought, you may be able to precipitate some bitterness from the beer through fining and lagering. The use of a fining agent will help precipitate out any yeast in suspension, and since hop oils cling to yeast cells, you effectively bring down the bitterness. Lagering until you have a clear brew will also help for the same reason.

 

[Projectfdw]

So... It's over 2 years later and I was clearing out what I thought were some empty kegs in my basement closet. Noticed one was full. No idea what it was since I thought I dumped this saison last summer. Open it up. Didn't smell bad. Hooked it up to the kegerator and it's not bad. Not great but definitely drinkable. I've had beers take a while to come around, but never two years. I guess the lesson is that if you have the space, let it ride.

 

[stpug]

So... It's over 2 years later and I was clearing out what I thought were some empty kegs in my basement closet. Noticed one was full. No idea what it was since I thought I dumped this saison last summer. Open it up. Didn't smell bad. Hooked it up to the kegerator and it's not bad. Not great but definitely drinkable. I've had beers take a while to come around, but never two years. I guess the lesson is that if you have the space, let it ride.

Thanks for thinking to post back after all this time. I would have certainly forgot about my post had two years gone by. Glad to hear it wasn't a total loss

 

[Projectfdw]

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1460771243.489487.jpg
I'm a novice brewer at best but this is the most excited I've ever been about a beer Due to the process and time lapse.

Gave one to a friend tonight with no backstory and he really enjoyed it.

 

[TravelingLight]

Saisony is definitely a word in my house!