Saison BBD Saison Furtif

BBD Saison Furtif
Bronze certificate at NHC 2010 with a score of 29. Should have scored higher, but the bottle I sent had some oxidation.

Brew Type: Partial Mash
Style: Saison Brewer: BBD Brewing
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Volume: 4.10 gal Boil Time: 60 min



Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
4.50 lb Pale Liquid Extract [Boil for 5 min] Extract 33.33 %
5.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 37.04 %
2.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 14.81 %
1.00 lb Wheat Malt, Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 7.41 %
0.50 oz Pearle [8.20 %] (60 min) Hops 10.2 IBU
1.00 oz Hallertauer [3.30 %] (20 min) Hops 5.0 IBU
0.50 oz Pearle [8.20 %] (10 min) Hops 3.7 IBU
0.50 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (10 min) Hops 1.8 IBU
1.00 lb Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 7.41 %
1 Pkgs French Saison (Wyeast Labs #3711) Yeast-Ale

Beer Profile:
Measured Original Gravity: 1.067 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.000 SG
Estimated Color: 8.3 SRM
Bitterness: 28.8 IBU (20.0-35.0 IBU)
Alpha Acid Units: 7.4 AAU
Actual Alcohol by Volume: 8.75 %

My first try at a saison and it came out amazing. Taste is citrusy and tart. Peppery aftertaste at the back of your tongue.

I named this Saison Furtif because "furtif" means "stealthy" in French and this one sneaks up on you and kicks you in the ass if you're not paying attention. Nearly 9% abv and it doesn't taste like anything over 4 or 5. Definite hit with the ladies so it can go in the same category as the SWMBO Slayer. I gave a couple bottles of this to a friend to take home and try. His non-beer-liking wife tried a sip, had a longer drink and then stole it from him.

The sugar went it after main fermentation was starting to wind down. Dissolved in just enough water to get it to dissolve and poured right into the primary.

Definitely use the 3711 yeast with this. It chewed right through the maltose, had plenty of steam left for the sucrose and dried this puppy right out to 1.000. Other saison yeasts will probably give you trouble and likely won't finish as dry as this one. This yeast is amazing.

Mashed at 150F or a hair under for 75 minutes. Fermented in the 80's. Brewed in early August and just let ambient temp carry it along.

This sat in the secondary longer than the one week proscribed above, but that was just due to my being distracted by house hunting at the time. I think the extra time helped it condition faster, but shouldn't have affected the final product and I'll probably try to stick closer to one week next time I brew it but more time in the fermenter is usually a good thing anyway.

Carbonated naturally with 1oz corn sugar per gallon to make it nice and sparkly and bottled.

Here's a terrible picture of my saison. Better pic coming when I get off my butt and take a decent one.

This recipe sounds great! Ordering ingredients next week, and put on brew schedule for April!

Only things I'm changing is replacing table sugar with Belgian candy sugar, and replacing Hallertauer and Saaz with French Strisselspalt Hops (1.5 oz at 20min & .5 oz at 10min) (traditional saison and farmhouse hop)

Great name on this brew as well! once it's brewed I'll post my specs.

Look forward to hearing how it goes. I'd love some feedback on the recipe. The change in sugar shouldn't make much difference since it's only a pound.

Thanks about the name, but it named itself the first night I started drinking it!

Just had a bottle of this tonight and I have to say this is my favorite beer of all that I've brewed or even any commercial beer I've had. It's even better now after some extra time aging. Glad it's getting better with age since I'm sending if off to NHC in a couple days.

Looks like I'm brewing this one the week after easter.
what was the ferment, and condition time in bottle?

I usually go 2 weeks + in primary as normal practice. Secondary? how many Months in the bottle?

Really looking forward to this one. would like to have for mid july b-day surf fishing camp out.

This one got some extended time in the fermenter because we had a major fruit fly outbreak going on and I didn't want to mess with this until they were gone. I put it in the fermenter about August 10th and bottled on October 7th. Don't remember if that was mostly primary or secondary and I'm horrible at keeping notes on my batches beyond the recipe.

You would probably do well with 3-4 weeks in primary, then an optional secondary. Just make sure it finishes up completely before you transfer out of primary for secondary or bottling. The 3711 took mine right down to about 1.000. It's be best saison yeast available, IMNSHO!

Got the 3711 yeast. I have my secondary tied up with an olde ale that won't let go of its krausen, so I may lust be a long primary. 3-5weeks. age out in bottle. will post updates as they happen! Have my label ready, so I need to brew soon. (gave a recipe credit on the label)

Well cat, I think you've convinced me to give this one a shot. I dont have any experience with saison beer, but im looking for a good summer brew (and one the wife will like), and this one seems to fit the bill. Ill let you know how it goes

Im only an extract brewer for now, and my brew pot is a 6 gal. pot. You dont think I can steep 8 lbs of grain do you? Is there a way around this, or should I buy a bigger brew pot, and get around to making my cooler mashtun?

Getout13 said:

Im only an extract brewer for now, and my brew pot is a 6 gal. pot. You dont think I can steep 8 lbs of grain do you? Is there a way around this, or should I buy a bigger brew pot, and get around to making my cooler mashtun?

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It is a big paritial mash bill. Steeping alone won't convert the sugars like in a mash.

This is my best guess to convert to Extract. It will get you in the ball park. Yeast Strain is key here anyway.

(5.5 gal batch using a 3 gallon boil)
8lb Light Dry malt extract
1lb wheat Dry malt Extract
1lb 20LVB Crystal (steeped)
1lb Sugar (corn, Table or light Belgian Candy sugar Your Choice)

.5 Perle 60 min
1 oz Hallertau 20min
.5 Perle 10min
.5 Saaz 10min

Specs:
OG: 1.085
FG 1.021
IBU 23
SRM 8
ABV 8.3%

It's in the ballpark, Wyeast Labs #3711 may get it dead on

Beautiful. Should get around to brewing in about a week and a half. Ill let you know how it turns out, and if I make any adjustments.
Appreciate the help!

starrfish said:

It is a big paritial mash bill. Steeping alone won't convert the sugars like in a mash.

This is my best guess to convert to Extract. It will get you in the ball park. Yeast Strain is key here anyway.

(5.5 gal batch using a 3 gallon boil)
8lb Light Dry malt extract
1lb wheat Dry malt Extract
1lb 20LVB Crystal (steeped)
1lb Sugar (corn, Table or light Belgian Candy sugar Your Choice)

.5 Perle 60 min
1 oz Hallertau 20min
.5 Perle 10min
.5 Saaz 10min

Specs:
OG: 1.085
FG 1.021
IBU 23
SRM 8
ABV 8.3%

It's in the ballpark, Wyeast Labs #3711 may get it dead on

Click to expand...

I'd try to adjust that to bring the OG down nearer where mine was. That 3711 will dry the CRAP outta that and you don't want to end up with rocket fuel.

If the brewer says Knock it back try this ( I havn't used this yeast yet, but can't wait! heck cheaper malt bill!)

What do you think of this Cat?

6lbs Light dry malt extract
1lb wheat dry malt extract
1lb sugar (table, light belgian candy sugar or corn sugar) With out some of the other malts I would suggest a light belgian candy sugar for xtra flavor.
1 lb 20 lvb crystal malt steeped
1/3 lb 80 lvb crystal steeped

needed the extra 1/3 lb 80 lvb crystal to get srm back up.
specs:

OG: 1.067
FG:1.017
IBU:25
SRM:8
ABV:6.5%
Looked up this yeast and it works at 80% or better for got to adjust attenuation used 75% default. the warmer the better for this yeast.
same hop schedule.

Keep the wheat extract the same Knock back light dry malt extract and ferment by heat vent. Cat brewed this around 80°. this strain works it's best at High temps. 70's + will give a good result. My original post at lower temps might leave too much residual sugar. at lower temps.

Can't wait to play with this yeast strain. James on Basic Brewing Radio had a pod cast about some Belgian Beer Yeasts doing their best at 90°! this is one of them.

ferment warm and go to it. will be fermenting this in my warmest room far from AC in April (Really warm here in SC in April!)

going to make a bunch of saisons this summer (one of the most vesatile styles out there: light & dry big and meatty! ALL GOOD!)

any other suggestions Cat?

starrfish said:

If the brewer says Knock it back try this ( I havn't used this yeast yet, but can't wait! heck cheaper malt bill!)

What do you think of this Cat?

6lbs Light dry malt extract
1lb wheat dry malt extract
1lb sugar (table, light belgian candy sugar or corn sugar) With out some of the other malts I would suggest a light belgian candy sugar for xtra flavor.
1 lb 20 lvb crystal malt steeped
1/3 lb 80 lvb crystal steeped

needed the extra 1/3 lb 80 lvb crystal to get srm back up.
specs:

OG: 1.067
FG:1.017
IBU:25
SRM:8
ABV:6.5%
Looked up this yeast and it works at 80% or better for got to adjust attenuation used 75% default. the warmer the better for this yeast.
same hop schedule.

Keep the wheat extract the same Knock back malt and ferment by heat vent. Cat brewed this around 80°. this strain works it's best at High temps. 70's + will give a good result. My original post at lower temps might leave too much residual sugar.
can't wait to play with this yeast strain. James on Baisc Brewing radio had a pod cast about some Belgian Beer Yeasts doing their best at 90°! this is one of them.

ferment warm and go to it. will be fermenting this in my warmest room far from AC in April (Really warm here in SC in April!)

any other suggestions Cat?

Click to expand...

That looks pretty good there. Don't worry about that1.017 FG. I had the same OG and it fermented down to 1.000! This yeast is a complete MONSTER!

And don't be tempted to throw any spices in this. This yeast makes it nicely spicy without any actual spices. Citrus and pepper comes right out of it.

NICE! was a bit worried about that 1.017 for him. the wheat DME should do good in there too, should help the body even if it gets really dry!

The wheat seems to go well with the tartness that the yeast imparted.

Oh man... I spent the afternoon mowing the lawn and doing various other yard work. Now, I wouldn't be drinking this and using power tools and sharp things, but this is SO good as a post-lawnmower beer. Came in all dirty, tired and sore... poured a glass of this and it hit the spot so perfectly.

This recipe sounds great.

Here is my dilemma...

I just received a bulk order of hops and didn't order any of the hops in this recipe.

Would any of these make suitable substitutions? What for what?


Amarillo
Cascade
Centennial
Chinook
Columbus
Fuggle
Golding
Magnum
Willamette

Thanks!

For the 60 minute addition, you could swap out anything according to AA% since they're just for bittering. For the other additions... it won't come out quite the same but you might be able to do something with the Willamette hops. They have some nice spicey and earthy tones. On this beer, the hops aren't the central flavor but they do accent the character of the yeast a lot.

ChshreCat said:

For the 60 minute addition, you could swap out anything according to AA% since they're just for bittering. For the other additions... it won't come out quite the same but you might be able to do something with the Willamette hops. They have some nice spicey and earthy tones. On this beer, the hops aren't the central flavor but they do accent the character of the yeast a lot.

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Willamette it is then. Thanks.

Brewed this last night. Upscaled to an 8 gallon batch. Hit my mash numbers right on. Ended up using Amarillo and Willamette (what I had). Used the Wyeast 3711 starter. OG was a little higher that OP's but I did round up a bit on the grain [ and hops ] when placing the order. OG of 1.073. Bubbling away this morning. Fermentation should be in the upper 70's.

will be unveiling this one next weekend while camping... After Shark Fishing... NOT Before!!! LOL or they may be calling me "Stubby"

Razor: If yours dries out like mine, you're going to end up over 9% abv. Woah!

Starfish: Lookin' forward to hearing what you think of it. Good call on having it AFTER shark fishing. If yours is as light as mine, it'll really sneak up on you. How did your FG come out? Around 1.000?

I am considering using raw sugar. Do you think any of the molasses flavor of the raw sugar will come through or think it a waste of money?

Waste of money, if you ask me. Don't think you'd want molasses flavor in this anyway. That's good for stouts and porters and dark malty things like that. It'd really seem out of place in a saison.

ChshreCat said:

Razor: If yours dries out like mine, you're going to end up over 9% abv. Woah!

Starfish: Lookin' forward to hearing what you think of it. Good call on having it AFTER shark fishing. If yours is as light as mine, it'll really sneak up on you. How did your FG come out? Around 1.000?

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It's only been a couple of weeks but I am down to 1.0044. Is there a big difference between where I am and 1.000? I am in no hurry for this beer as my pipeline is good. I will probably wait at least another week before I transfer to a corny, and it may be a while before I have a spot for it in the keezer.

Any recommendations to get it to drop the rest of the way?

Razorbrew said:

It's only been a couple of weeks but I am down to 1.0044. Is there a big difference between where I am and 1.000? I am in no hurry for this beer as my pipeline is good. I will probably wait at least another week before I transfer to a corny, and it may be a while before I have a spot for it in the keezer.

Any recommendations to get it to drop the rest of the way?

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Just time. Since your OG was higher than mine, it might well be done at a few points higher than mine. If it were any other yeast, I'd say it was done for sure but this one kind of bends the rules. I wouldn't rouse it or anything at this point since it's probably getting nice and clear. Just keep it warm and if it's still at the same SG in a week, declare it finished and keg it. A little aging in a cool spot won't hurt this beer a bit so no rush to get it in your keezer.

Got my strike water heating up for a batch of this as we speak. Feels good to brew again after a bit of a dry spell.

ChshreCat said:

Just time. Since your OG was higher than mine, it might well be done at a few points higher than mine. If it were any other yeast, I'd say it was done for sure but this one kind of bends the rules. I wouldn't rouse it or anything at this point since it's probably getting nice and clear. Just keep it warm and if it's still at the same SG in a week, declare it finished and keg it. A little aging in a cool spot won't hurt this beer a bit so no rush to get it in your keezer.

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It was done. ... and is now on tap. Very nice. I think it will be even better in a month when it mellows a bit.