First saison attempt.....any helpful advice?

[Turfgrass]

Hi all, I’m going to attempt my first saison this weekend and I’m interested in any advise for the first time saison brewer.

I plan on using German Pils, white wheat, Munich and acidulated for the grains. Syrian and EKG for pellitized hops.

Wyeast French Saison 3711

Yeast nutrient and Irish Moss @ 15 min.

I’m still thinking about the water profile and grist ratio.....my home tap water is “hard”, so I was thinking of doing a 50/50 ratio of tap water to either bottled ro or di/ro from my filter. Some of the articles that I’ve read on saison brew water was brewed with “hard water”, but I’m a bit worried about the ph at mash and boil.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you and Happy 4th of July!

 

[Craigmn]

Cool to normal pitching temps then leave in your hot garage to ferment. Some people (me) don’t use an airlock on saison brews for fear of the back pressure boogie man and how it changes flavor.

Saisons are the one beer style I don’t treat my water, I will get out the chorine and chloramine, but let my water do the rest of the work. Enjoy

 

[Kent88]

Don't push the temperature high until after krausen.

 

[Turfgrass]

Craigmn- yeah, I always use a blow tube into a jar of starsan if that’s what you recommend......do you use Camden tablets or k-meta? What rate please? Guessing ph isn’t a concern with the saison.

Kent88- so, what temp gain do you recommend and how quickly once krausen recedes?

 

[Kent88]

Others may disagree, but here is my thinking:

68 until krausen subsides, mid 70s when you're pretty confident that the foam is calming down, and low to mid 80s after foam has subsided. I am usually not in a hurry to bump past 80.

 

[LayerUp]

My saison strategy hasn't changed for a long time, 50% Belgian pils, 50% while wheat, and acilidated for the mash. Ferment at 64F. I shoot for about 3.5% ABV.
I am honestly not sure what strain I am currently using, because I pulled it from a bottle of agrarian field bier, but if I had to guess, I'd say it's similar to 3711. It performs exceedingly well at 64F.
As far as water, I'll have to let you know tomorrow, as I am away from my desk currently.

 

[shoengine]

Whats with the low ferment temps? I fermented mine at 75 ambient. It is supposed to be a little funky...

 

[Craigmn]

I don’t use any blowoff or airlock. Foil over the top and let it go.

I don’t control them temp on my Saison at all, if I want more character I let it go in the hot garage, or I’ll put it in my kitchen for a medium character. For me, and this is feeling as much as fact, Saison is a beer I let just do it’s thing as it was originally “rustic”.

I also do a lot of mixed fermentation with it

And i use campden