Saison Cottage House Saison

[tellyho]

Probably!

 

[Silentdrinker]

I'm getting ready to keg a bunch of cider and beer I made for my wedding, so I got in my basement to snag some 10gal kegs. Well, it ended up being like an awesome time capsule. I found several kegs that were forgotten about. I had made 10 gal of this saison in Feb of 2014. I kegged some in a 3 gal keg and took it to the beach. The rest was left and forgotten about.

So here I have about 7gal of this saison aged more than 3 years and damn it tastes fancy!

It has a citrus bite to the nose. The mouthfeel is velvety. It still has that funkiness, and even though it's still very much there, it's like it matured and mellowed in some indescribable way. It's malty and has hints of butterscotch to the finish.

Even though I made 60gal of beer/cider/hard lemomade, I'm going to bring a small keg to the wedding for my VIPs. They need to know what fancy tastes like.

 

[Abrayton]

Turned out very good!

 

[zonkman]

I was forced to substitute 3711 with 3724, and have been sampling the final product while steadily carbonating. At first I thought I might have introduced an off flavor, bready bubblegum hitting hard at the pepper, dry-bitter caramel, sharp spike of alcohol, unbelievably extended and sustained oscillations. A month on and I am certain this is the best beer I've brewed. There is one quality in beer that I evaluate on above all others: does it keep me coming back for more. The huge amount of flavors in this beer seem to constantly align differently with the others, and the appearance of the pepper and candiness in the aftermath - this will be the first time I re-brew a recipe. Dangit, I ******* love brewing beer! Be sure to carbonate well in big, thick-walled bottles. Trust me. Also, I perceive the honey as a spice rather than an expression of sweetness.... whatever that means (because I make mead, maybe, I found myself looking for it as a constituent in isolation, which it is obviously not). My winter stockpile includes this, a golden strong ale, assortments of apfelwein, a Kentucky Common still in process, and some nasty bochets.

 

[cpham574]

I've brewed this recipe multiple times and it's always so damn good! My latest batch I added 0.5lb honey malt and so far the gravity samples have tasted amazing. However, I did forget to add the black pepper this time. There's still a nice spice characteristic tho. Must be from the 3711.

Also missed the target OG. I got 1.057. 20 days later she's sitting at 1.004. Gonna let it go for another week before kegging.

 

[Jayjay1976]

I just brewed this last Sunday with a couple of tweaks. I upped the grain bill a bit in anticipation of low efficiency, but ended up overshooting the OG a bit at 1.074. I don't think I'm calculating correctly, but brewers friend said 94% efficiency, I would appreciate some guidance on this.

The airlock only bubbles about once every 3 minutes, I'm going to give it another week before racking to secondary. Since I pitched two pouches of yeast, 3711 & 3724 im going to wash some for my next batch. The bubbles smell glorious, I can't wait to taste this.

Here's my jacked up version, I hope it comes out tasty.

10 lbs german pils
2 lbs german pale wheat
.25 lbs belgian special B
1 lbs piloncillo
13.25 lbs total

Mash in @ 117f
30 min. rest @ 113f
15 min. rest @ 131f
30 min. rest @ 144f
15 min. rest @ 154f
Mash out @170f

.75 oz opal pellets 5.9% @ 60
.75 oz hersbrucker leaf 2.8% @ 45
.75 oz hersbrucker leaf 2.8% @ 30
1.5oz hersbrucker leaf 2.8% @ 5
Total 3.75 oz / 29.38 IBUs

7.75 gal strike volume
6.75 gal pre-boil
5.5 gal into fermenter

Wyeast 3711 French saison
Wyeast 3724 Belgian saison

Target OG 1.062
Actual OG 1.074

Looking back at the grain bill, I'm expecting either a luxuriantly malty throat-load, or an undrinkably hot, high ABV dumper (who am I kidding, I'll just drink it ice cold!).

 

[BeernuT100]

I just brewed this last Sunday with a couple of tweaks. I upped the grain bill a bit in anticipation of low efficiency, but ended up overshooting the OG a bit at 1.074. I don't think I'm calculating correctly, but brewers friend said 94% efficiency, I would appreciate some guidance on this.

The airlock only bubbles about once every 3 minutes, I'm going to give it another week before racking to secondary. Since I pitched two pouches of yeast, 3711 & 3724 im going to wash some for my next batch. The bubbles smell glorious, I can't wait to taste this.

Here's my jacked up version, I hope it comes out tasty.

10 lbs german pils
2 lbs german pale wheat
.25 lbs belgian special B
1 lbs piloncillo
13.25 lbs total

Mash in @ 117f
30 min. rest @ 113f
15 min. rest @ 131f
30 min. rest @ 144f
15 min. rest @ 154f
Mash out @170f

.75 oz opal pellets 5.9% @ 60
.75 oz hersbrucker leaf 2.8% @ 45
.75 oz hersbrucker leaf 2.8% @ 30
1.5oz hersbrucker leaf 2.8% @ 5
Total 3.75 oz / 29.38 IBUs

7.75 gal strike volume
6.75 gal pre-boil
5.5 gal into fermenter

Wyeast 3711 French saison
Wyeast 3724 Belgian saison

Target OG 1.062
Actual OG 1.074

Looking back at the grain bill, I'm expecting either a luxuriantly malty throat-load, or an undrinkably hot, high ABV dumper (who am I kidding, I'll just drink it ice cold!).

Sounds like it'll do just fine! Please keep us updated on how it tastes when ready.

 

[Jayjay1976]

I just brewed this last Sunday with a couple of tweaks. I upped the grain bill a bit in anticipation of low efficiency, but ended up overshooting the OG a bit at 1.074. I don't think I'm calculating correctly, but brewers friend said 94% efficiency, I would appreciate some guidance on this.

The airlock only bubbles about once every 3 minutes, I'm going to give it another week before racking to secondary. Since I pitched two pouches of yeast, 3711 & 3724 im going to wash some for my next batch. The bubbles smell glorious, I can't wait to taste this.

Here's my jacked up version, I hope it comes out tasty.

10 lbs german pils
2 lbs german pale wheat
.25 lbs belgian special B
1 lbs piloncillo
13.25 lbs total

Mash in @ 117f
30 min. rest @ 113f
15 min. rest @ 131f
30 min. rest @ 144f
15 min. rest @ 154f
Mash out @170f

.75 oz opal pellets 5.9% @ 60
.75 oz hersbrucker leaf 2.8% @ 45
.75 oz hersbrucker leaf 2.8% @ 30
1.5oz hersbrucker leaf 2.8% @ 5
Total 3.75 oz / 29.38 IBUs

7.75 gal strike volume
6.75 gal pre-boil
5.5 gal into fermenter

Wyeast 3711 French saison
Wyeast 3724 Belgian saison

Target OG 1.062
Actual OG 1.074

Looking back at the grain bill, I'm expecting either a luxuriantly malty throat-load, or an undrinkably hot, high ABV dumper (who am I kidding, I'll just drink it ice cold!).

After 2 weeks at 68~70 the gravity reached 1.010 so yesterday I bottled it. I'm kinda worried now that maybe I should have used a heat mat or something to help it finish out a bit lower. I hope I don't get any bottle bombs. I only checked the gravity the one time just before I bottled, even though I should have known better. Gravity sample tasted okay, kinda green and perhaps a hint of a scorched flavor. I've learned a lot on this first AG batch, maybe hoping it will also taste great is a tad optimistic. If it doesn't turn out I'll brew it again and and again till I nail it.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Okay I've been reading horror stories about bottle bombs from bottling too early, can someone comment on my post above so I can sleep at night? OG was 1.074, after 14 days @ 68-70, I bottled at 1.010. Primed with 4.7 oz corn sugar. Guess I'll start testing one every few days, then store at lager temps to slow or stop fermentation giving me time to drink it all. How long should I wait to try one? Bottled on sunday.

Edit: guy at LHBS thought it wouldn't go much lower than 1.011, having started out at 1.074. That's why I chose to bottle.

 

[Miraculix]

Okay I've been reading horror stories about bottle bombs from bottling too early, can someone comment on my post above so I can sleep at night? OG was 1.074, after 14 days @ 68-70, I bottled at 1.010. Primed with 4.7 oz corn sugar. Guess I'll start testing one every few days, then store at lager temps to slow or stop fermentation giving me time to drink it all. How long should I wait to try one? Bottled on sunday.

Edit: guy at LHBS thought it wouldn't go much lower than 1.011, having started out at 1.074. That's why I chose to bottle.

For that very reason, I bought some of those big samla ikea type boxes with lids where I store my bottles in. If something should happen, it will stay in the box.

 

[jpb2716]

Okay I've been reading horror stories about bottle bombs from bottling too early, can someone comment on my post above so I can sleep at night? OG was 1.074, after 14 days @ 68-70, I bottled at 1.010. Primed with 4.7 oz corn sugar. Guess I'll start testing one every few days, then store at lager temps to slow or stop fermentation giving me time to drink it all. How long should I wait to try one? Bottled on sunday.

Edit: guy at LHBS thought it wouldn't go much lower than 1.011, having started out at 1.074. That's why I chose to bottle.

For what it's worth, the few times that I've brewed with 3711, I've always ended up with a FG around 1.001. It's a beast. The fact that you bottled at 1.010 PLUS added corn sugar may lead to some bottle bombs. I'm assuming that you didn't use champagne bottles?

 

[Jayjay1976]

For what it's worth, the few times that I've brewed with 3711, I've always ended up with a FG around 1.001. It's a beast. The fact that you bottled at 1.010 PLUS added corn sugar may lead to some bottle bombs. I'm assuming that you didn't use champagne bottles?

No, I used 42 12oz. brown bottles (Bell's) and 6 500ml German brown bottles.

I'll start sampling tonight and check one every 3 days or so. Once they're nicely gassed up I'll lager them at ~32 to slow it down and guzzle them all up over a 2 week period. I'll invite some neighbors over to help. Or maybe after a week or so I'll cold crash for a couple days then recap them all.

I'm already planning to brew this again on Sunday with all my new learnings.

 

[pmaster]

No, I used 42 12oz. brown bottles (Bell's) and 6 500ml German brown bottles.

I'll start sampling tonight and check one every 3 days or so. Once they're nicely gassed up I'll lager them at ~32 to slow it down and guzzle them all up over a 2 week period. I'll invite some neighbors over to help. Or maybe after a week or so I'll cold crash for a couple days then recap them all.

I'm already planning to brew this again on Sunday with all my new learnings.

Yeah 3711 is a beast, it will likely ferment closer to 1.0. Id suggest you put half of the bottles in the fridge right now, just in case and sample the other bottles gradually. When they're ready crash them cold and keep them there, you can then get the other ones out. Just in case cold crashing alone doesnt stop the first half over fermenting.

Definitely call a party

 

[tSeven]

Hello, i forgot to add the black pepper during the boil. Its a week on fermentor already, should i add the black pepper or not?

Cheers from Brazil.

 

[Rhaop]

Okay I've been reading horror stories about bottle bombs from bottling too early, can someone comment on my post above so I can sleep at night? OG was 1.074, after 14 days @ 68-70, I bottled at 1.010. Primed with 4.7 oz corn sugar. Guess I'll start testing one every few days, then store at lager temps to slow or stop fermentation giving me time to drink it all. How long should I wait to try one? Bottled on sunday.

Edit: guy at LHBS thought it wouldn't go much lower than 1.011, having started out at 1.074. That's why I chose to bottle.

Two weeks at or near *70 I can’t imagine it didn’t finish out, if my math is right you should be around 87% attenuation that’s pretty good but at the advice of others i would keep a close eye on the bottles, lay an old heavy towel over the bottles if you don’t have a tote to put the bottles in

 

[Jayjay1976]

Quick question, can I use the dregs from this recipe that I bottled last sunday to make a starter for my next batch? It was fermented with smack packs of French and Belgian saison yeasts, both should be present in sufficient quantities, no? I would rather not spend another $16 if I don't have to. Long term, it would be great to rely on my beer stock as a yeast bank, using my 3L flask + stirplate.

 

[bolus14]

Yea, building a starter won't be an issue. But, looking at your beer stock as a yeast bank isn't the best idea. Look into washing yeast or plan to build larger starters and store parts of the yeast from the starter in Mason jars. You will get healthier yeast with these two methods, and thus better beer.

 

[Apple_Jacker]

Just brewed this last weekend. Here's my version:

8.5 lbs Pilsner Malt (2-row)
1.5 lbs pale wheat
0.5 lbs cara Munich malt
0.5 lbs flaked oats
1.0 lbs orange blossom honey from a produce stand in Florida
1.5 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Hops:
1.0 oz Fuggle @ 30 min
1.0 oz. Fuggle @ 15 min
1.0 oz. Jarrylo @ 10 min

Yeast: Wyeast 3724 Belgian Saison

It was fermenting between 68 and 70 for the first couple of days. It's sitting at around 66 degrees now. I might follow some of the comments here and move it somewhere warmer in a week.

Gravity was 1.064 @ 68 degrees F

 

[azscoob]

I think I’m going to brew 20 gallons of this once things warm up, might as well brew it to last the summer right?

 

[Jayjay1976]

I think I’m going to brew 20 gallons of this once things warm up, might as well brew it to last the summer right?

GREAT idea! I really think saison shines as a summer beer, do you think 20 gallons is enough for the whole summer? Maybe brew some more and let it age? Which yeast are you going to use??

 

[ten80]

Maybe brew some more and let it age? Which yeast are you going to use??

I just popped a 3-year old bottle of this beer brewed with 3711 and it was FANTASTIC. This beer really holds up over time even though it's light in color and not high alcohol. 3711 is great for bottle conditioning, but it will keep breaking down malt dextrins in the bottle (it's a diastatic strain of Saccharomyces) so I recommend heavier champagne bottles. I primed my bottles to about 3 volumes CO2 but they were probably at 4-5 volumes after three years, which works great for this beer.

I just re-brewed this beer and added candied orange rind to one carboy and white grape concentrate to the other. Pitched some 71B wine yeast near the end of the fermentation to add some nice esters and fully attenuate the beer. Both versions are still young but really good!

 

[BandonBrewingCo]

Just bottled. Smells like hefe and has a nice sour aftertaste - is this correct? WLP 566 Saison II yeast . I missed my OG but hit my FG. Temps and times same as OP

 

[Pintabone]

Just kegged my second go at a recipe based off of this one. Jacked up the fermentation temp to get more out of the yeast compared to the first batch. Pitched at 70 and put it up to 77 over the first four days and held there for 7.

Has anyone noticed a tartness from 3711? Tastes nice but it seems to be more tart than I remember. Wondering if this is something that you might get from pushing the yeast higher in temp or if I may have a slight infection.

 

[Nipun Reddy]

Hi, I just started home brewing and have not done all grain brewing yet. After reading all the comments I am very eager to try this Saison.
Could anyone share an extract recipe?
Thanks in advance

 

[troglodytes]

Hi, I just started home brewing and have not done all grain brewing yet. After reading all the comments I am very eager to try this Saison.
Could anyone share an extract recipe?
Thanks in advance

If I were to experiment with and extract batch, I would say replace most of the base grains for DME, but still do a mini-mash in a muslin bag first, and up your hops a little to bring IBUs to where they should be:

Steep/"Mash" for an hour @ 152F in 1.5 gallons:
1# Pilsner
1.5# White Wheat
.5# CaraMunich
.5# Flaked Oats
Note: Make sure these are milled grains (not whole)

After an hour, add 2 gallons of water, 1oz Sorachi Ace & .5oz Fuggles, and bring to a boil.

Add 4# Pilsen DME

From here follow the rest of the recipe as written (same remaining hopping schedule and honey addition)

Cool and top off to 5 gallon

Use WY3711 at 68 to 72 degrees and it should still finish pretty dry for you.

 

[Oldskewl]

I've had this one on the radar for a couple years. Finally going to brew it tonight. I couldn't find Orange Blossom Honey and ended up with Multiflower Honey. Hopefully that doesn't make much difference. Any recommendations on water profile? I was going to target aprox. a 75/75/75 for Sulfate, Chloride, Ca

 

[troglodytes]

Sounds like it should be fine. I have brewed this recipe with slight variations numerous times. Between honey types I can't tell the difference. I've also pitched honey on the second day of fermentation to try to preserve more of the flavors but it still didn't notice really. I did use homemade candi syrup once (amber) and that made a difference.

Your 75/75/75 water profile should work fine, for sure. Its almost axactly what I did last time with a mash pH of 5.35. With WY3711 it had a great mouthfeel for how dry the finished beer is.

 

[Oldskewl]

Troglodytes, thanks for the feedback. Everything went well on brew day and it is bubbling away happily on day 4 at 68F. Planning to ramp up to 75 starting tommorrow.

 

[Oldskewl]

Wow! I'm really happy with this beer. This is "THE SAISON" I've been looking for for a couple years. I fermented at 68F for 5 days and ramped up to 75F over a few days and held it for about 3 more weeks. Transferred to a keg on 14 psi for 8 days. Nice tartness that I was looking, balance by a slight sweetness(surprising for a 1.000 fg) and yet pretty easy to drink for a 7.8% beer. I'll share a pic in a couple days. First couple pulls were a little murky.

 

[tellyho]

I honestly have never been able to identify any lingering honey flavor when I've brewed this - don't think it matters. I sub sugar as often as not when I make it.