Summer Saison

[thehaze]

Hello everybody,

I have brewed my first Saison and it is now happily fermenting. The recipe is:

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: Saison
Boil Time: 90 min
Batch Size: 5.8 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 7.4 gallons
Efficiency: 84% (brew house)
Original Gravity: 1.060
Final Gravity: 1.014
ABV (standard): 5.99%
IBU (tinseth): 18.99
SRM (morey): 7.84

FERMENTABLES:
8.8 lb - Belgian - Pilsner (78.6%)
1.1 lb - German - Rye (9.8%)
1.1 lb - German - Spelt Malt (9.8%)
0.2 lb - Chocolate spelt (1.8%)

HOPS:
25 g - Bobek, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 3.5, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 9.44
15 g - Rakau, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 10.9, Use: Aroma for 5 min, IBU: 3.52
15 g - Yellow Sub, Type: Pellet, AA: 7.9, Use: Aroma for 5 min, IBU: 2.8
15 g - Falconer's Flight 7C'S, Type: Pellet, AA: 9.1, Use: Aroma for 5 min, IBU: 3.23
35 g - Rakau, Type: Leaf/Whole, AA: 10.9, Use: Dry Hop for 3 days
35 g - Yellow Sub, Type: Pellet, AA: 7.9, Use: Dry Hop for 3 days
35 g - Falconer's Flight 7C'S, Type: Pellet, AA: 9.1, Use: Dry Hop for 3 days

YEAST: Wyeast - Farmhouse Ale 3726

Mash eff. was 89% using the Grainfather Connect. It has been now fermenting at around 75 F / 24 C and was wondering if it would need more. I do not have temp. control, hence I must rely on yeast strains which can ferment at higher temps.

 

[Gravity]

Interesting choice of hops and chocolate spelt

If you don't have temp control, a Saison is the perfect beer to brew with warmish temps, it could even go higher with no problem.

Hope it turns out great

 

[thehaze]

You know, a few years ago, I did not care much for " belgian " beer. Now... I cannot go on without it.

I had a few saisons and I must admit, I got hooked. Dry, crisp, full of flavour and so easy drinking.

The Bobek I used was something I had lying around and it is 2016 harvest in leaf form. The others are just en experiment and hopefully will provide some aroma.

The Chocolate Spelt is only for colour, as I had it left from an earlier brew ( Amber Ale ). I wanted to give it a darker shade of pale and I didn't want to use any Crystal/Caramel malt. So I thought this would do a better job than a cloying Crystal malt.

 

[Gravity]

Saisons are amazing, I love brewing them and drinking them

Bobek has Saison written all over it, the other hops, not so much and I guess that what experiments are for.

I probably would have opted for Munich for a deeper golden color and flavor or maybe vienna

anyway, keep us posted

 

[Calder]

May be a great beer, but Saisons are generally simple 'Farmhouse' recipes. The yeast is the star, and anything else added is supporting in the background.

175 grams hops =~6.5 ozs. Seems like a lot of hops for a 'Simple' saison. Again, the start should be the yeast, not the hops.

I don't know what you mashed at, but if you think it will stop at 1.014, you may be disappointed. But ... Saisons should be dry, and finish in the region of 1.004 - 1.008. I would find a 1.014 FG for a Saison to be way too sweet for me.

 

[thehaze]

May be a great beer, but Saisons are generally simple 'Farmhouse' recipes. The yeast is the star, and anything else added is supporting in the background.

175 grams hops =~6.5 ozs. Seems like a lot of hops for a 'Simple' saison. Again, the start should be the yeast, not the hops.

I don't know what you mashed at, but if you think it will stop at 1.014, you may be disappointed. But ... Saisons should be dry, and finish in the region of 1.004 - 1.008. I would find a 1.014 FG for a Saison to be way too sweet for me.

Brewer's Friend calculator says the FG will be around 1.014 with the chosen yeast, which is Wyeast 3726. I too know that is too high and hope the calculator is way off here.

I mashed at 149 F/ 65 C for 75 minutes with a mash eff. of 89%, using the Grainfather Connect.

 

[Calder]

Brewer's Friend calculator says the FG will be around 1.014 with the chosen yeast, which is Wyeast 3726. I too know that is too high and hope the calculator is way off here.

I mashed at 149 F/ 65 C for 75 minutes with a mash eff. of 89%, using the Grainfather Connect.

Calculators are 'Robots', garbage in = garbage out. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Brew calculators are completely irrelevant with respect to FG, Maybe they will get better, but there are so many variables that they just don't take into account.

149 F mash will make a very fermentable wort. With that yeast, I would expect FG to be closer to 1.006. This would make it a decent Saison.

 

[thehaze]

Calculators are 'Robots', garbage in = garbage out. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Brew calculators are completely irrelevant with respect to FG, Maybe they will get better, but there are so many variables that they just don't take into account.

149 F mash will make a very fermentable wort. With that yeast, I would expect FG to be closer to 1.006. This would make it a decent Saison.

I read Wyeast 3726 not being as attenuating as other Saison yeasts, but I am hoping it gets the beer closer to 1.010 than 1.015.

This is also the reason I chose not to use any unfermentables ( in larger qty - see chocolate spelt ) and mash low.

But hopefully, it will go under 1.010.

I will make sure to post the final gravity and a picture of the final product. I bottle, so it will take a while.

 

[Oldskewl]

I recently used 1.5L starter of 3726 to ferment a 1.067 saison and it ended at 1.008. I started around 66 degrees and ramped up 2-3 degrees per day and ended at 85. It turned out to be a good beer but was hoping for some more farmhouse funk. May give it another shot and ferment warmer.

 

[thehaze]

I took a gravity reading on July 16th and the saison was at 1.010. It tasted good from the fermenter at 22C/72F.

Should I bottle or wait a few more days, for the gravity to come down?

Aparent attenuation is at about 83% now.

Would the fermentation be over now?

 

[z-bob]

You should wait a few days and check it again. Bottle if it's still at 1.010. If it is still dropping, wait a few more days until it's finished.

Rushing it into bottles will just result in overcarbonated beer.

 

[bulldogbrewhaus]

My experience with saison yeast, generally speaking, is that the warmer you allow the fermentation to finish the better attenuation you will get. Don't be afraid of temps close to 90. The DuPont strain needs extra warm temps to finish nice and dry. Have not used this specific strain. A lot of commercial brewers don't use their temp control when fermenting saisons, start it in the mid 60s and let it roll. I like a nice hoppy saison such as this. Cheers.

 

[thehaze]

Down to 1.009 , 3 days later. I will give it 5 days and check gravity again. The sample tasted very good.

 

[ericbw]

I don't know that yeast, but sometimes they take a nap and come back. Check gravity a few days apart or just wait.

My recipe this year was just pils and wheat, with rhubarb added in secondary (after fermentation stopped, like dry hopping). The rhubarb didn't really come through. You have a lot of late and dry hops, like someone said - the yeast will be overwhelmed by that.

Still - farmhouse means do what you like with ingredients on hand.

 

[LostBoyScout]

I have used that yeast a few times (and love it!) and with a similar mash temp I'd usually get 88 - 92% attenuation, though I add a small amount (~5%) sugar too. ie my saison at 1.048 finished at 1.005 and 1.039 finished at 1.003. So it might still drop a little more. I always give saison yeasts 3 weeks in primary, they (generally speaking) tend to chew the last few points more slowly than some other yeasts.

I have no idea what to expect from the hop selection but sounds like a solid recipe! Rye and spelt are great additions to a saison. One comment - while I love a huge dry hop addition as much as the next guy in my IPA's and APA's (I usually use 5 - 8 oz per 5gal), I find that a little goes a long way in a saison. Partly it's due to the dryness, and partly it's to keep it in balance with the yeast character. You'll know soon enough whether you agree or not though!

 

[thehaze]

I took a new sample today and FG reached 1.007.

The beer is already at 7% ABV, when the " calculator " said it should reach 5%. That puts it at 88% aparent attenuation.

But I like more alcohol, so I guess it's OK.

Note: Mash efficiency was 89%, so maybe that had something to do with it and the low mash temp.

 

[theheadonthedoor]

That yeast is good, but 3711 French Saison IS SERIOUSLY THE BEST THING EVER!

Especially for a summer saison, it has so much awesome flavor of lemon and hay, and it really pushes the citrusy hops to the front. Beautiful, super attenuative yeast!