Bah! That is not what I was going for!

[MBasile]

So, this brew (Belgian Saison) started off on a bad note. Given I biked to the LHBS to get the ingredients I was a little light headed when I got there. I poured myself 9.5 pounds instead of 6.5 pounds of base malt. Oh well, bigger is better, right? I was going for a lower ABV Saison that was nice and dry. LHBS did not have the Saison II yeast (78-85% att.) so I had to settle for the blend (70-80%) not a big difference, but a second step away from dryness.

I go to crush the grain and I notice a new mill. "Hmm," I think to myself "is this going to give me a better crush, lead to higher efficiency, and yield a bigger brew?" Oh well, not much I can do about it.

Brew day comes and commences... I end up with nearly 80% efficiency and a 1.066 OG wort when I originally was going for something around 1.052! I just hope those little yeasties can get it down below 1.010!

For the record, here is the recipe: http://mattbasile.net/saison.pdf

 

[MBasile]

4 hours later, I think I've got some healthy yeast!

 

[quadbikerjosh]

man isnt it just horrible when you did better thain you expected? god i hate those days.

 

[MBasile]

man isnt it just horrible when you did better thain you expected? god i hate those days.

Haha! I'm not going to complain about better efficiency (as long as it is consistent) but was really going for dryness on this one. Anyone have experience pitching something like champagne yeast if the Saison yeast craps out?

 

[Homercidal]

Uh, even think about topping off with more water?? Maybe put the extra wort in a 1 gallon jug so you can play with some other yeast, or try oaking or something??

 

[MBasile]

Uh, even think about topping off with more water?? Maybe put the extra wort in a 1 gallon jug so you can play with some other yeast, or try oaking or something??

Nah, never thought of that, probably because once the wort is in the sanitized carboy I don't like to fuddle with it. Rather than alter one experience, I prefer to learn and adapt for the next one. All seems well though, after less than 48 hours the beer is down to 1.018 (71% attenuation) so unless the activity of this yeast really drops off quick, I think it'll finish dry enough.

I have enough time to brew another batch or two before my next competition entry so I think I'll be able to figure out the efficiency issue before it is an issue. Except for competition stuff, it's all beer in the end anyways

 

[o4_srt]

What about subbing in some corn sugar for some of the malt? I did this in a cream ale and it finished nice and dry, 1.008.

 

[MBasile]

What about subbing in some corn sugar for some of the malt? I did this in a cream ale and it finished nice and dry, 1.008.

Problem was that I poured too much base malt and didn't realize until I started adding specialty grains to the bucket. By then it was too late too add sugar. Original recipe called for 6.5# of base malt and about 1.5# of specialty with 2# of table sugar. I poured 9.5# of base malt so I lowered the table sugar to 1#. I was going for dry with this one, but also low ABV (so while the extra pound of sugar may have helped add driness due to increased alcohol, it would have been a monster brew ABV-wise) so I had something nice to sip on while working on the old benz or relaxing on the patio. Now I'll have a (hopefully) fairly dry 7%+ ABV brew

I'll probably get the 21A Bitter American kit to brew next because I still want something session strength for the summer.