first saison

[ramjam]

i am going to brew my first saison here in a week or two and am trying to get a good idea of ingredients and fermentation schedule to make a good one, so from what i read it is basically just pilsner malt and noble hops, make a big starter and ferment hot, is this correct?

 

[pondjt]

That’ll do it. A pound of wheat or rye if you wish. Some folks will tell you grains or paradise and late additions of west coast hops but I prefer to make it more traditional. Brewer’s choice.

I pitch at normal temperatures and raise it by two degrees per day.

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

Yeah mostly pilsner malt, throw in a bit of specialty like pondjt said if you want.

I do add some lightly toasted coriander seed and bitter orange peel if I have them. Mash at 149 for 60 minutes, Noble hops low AA and let the yeast shine. I have had very delicious ones done with Bell Saison so no need to go crazy until you have a recipe you like and want to mess with.

I love saison season.

 

[mirthfuldragon]

make a big starter

The starter size and yeast pitch rate is a decision you can make. Stressing the yeast with a smaller pitch may increase the phenolic character, potentially at the expense of attenuation. A bigger pitch can help with attenuation, but may diminish the yeast character.

I personally like a little wheat malt to help head retention (Beligan lace) and some flaked wheat/corn (or sugar) to dry it out a bit. I like mine bone dry. Yeast selection is a good topic, and I like Omega's Saisonstein's Monster French/Belgian hybrid. YMMV.

For hops, classic nobles like Saaz and French Strisselspalt are my go-to.

 

[ramjam]

thanks for the replies, i had saaz and french strisselspalt ordered and for the yeast i have white labs 565 belgian saison yeast, i had planned on mashing low 149 maybe to help dry it out a bit.

 

[deadwolfbones]

My basic saison recipe is a lot of pils and a little wheat, 100% Saaz hops, and 3711 with the temps on blast (mid-70s up to the low-mid 80s). Works every time.

But any grainbill that's mostly pils with "Belgian" yeast and noble hops will be fine.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I am not an expert here, but following since I am interested in brewing Belgian beers and Saisons. This is a very yeast/fermentation character dominated beer.

I see you picked WLP565 (same as Wyeast 3724...the Dupont strain). I used this yeast once and had the experience that has been typically reported. It started off strong, then settled down, and I moved it to a warm closet (80F) where it took another month or so to finish out. There are some easier yeast to use, but this one has a good reputation for flavors.

There are lots of different opinions on fermenting Saisons with WLP565, but Drew Beechum knows a lot more than I do: https://www.maltosefalcons.com/tech/guide-saisons-and-saison-yeasts

 

[couchsending]

If you want to use 565/3724 and ensure it finishes quickly just blend in a small percentage of French Saison. Just a gram or two of belle saison is all you need. I personally hate the profile of the French Saison yeasts but they are reliable. Blending will get you more of the character of DuPont with the reliability of French.

The reference Saison is just pils but plenty are made with wheat/oats/rye/Munich.

I’d go lower than 149 personally. At least 147 for 1.5 hours. Add a little sugar too. Nothing worse than a flabby Saison. Ideally 1.004 FG or below.

There’s a great article in CB&B with Dan Suarez on brewing a Saison of his called Kinda Classic. It’s a wonderful straight up Saison. I had it when he first released it and I believe the latest batch just came out. It’s amazing beer, highly recommend the article.

 

[mashpaddled]

A good starting point is 100% pilsner malt mashed in the low 150Fs. Bitter to 30 IBU with any kind of hop. Add 0.5 oz/gal of the European hop of your choice (or a combination) at flameout or whirlpool. Ferment with a saison yeast of your choice in the low 70Fs, raising the temperature over the course of the first week into the high 70Fs to low 80Fs. If after fermentation you think it needs more hops then dry hop with the European hops of your choice 0.25-0.5 oz/gal. Carbonate to 3 volumes of CO2.

Adjust as you like in future batches. Too many people race to try to get too complicated, too dry, add too many adjuncts, etc. You can make an excellent and nuanced saison without all of that and work in the changes gradually to get to a final great recipe.

 

[ramjam]

brewed this beer today, my recipe was
4oz biscuit
4oz special b
12lb avanguard pils
1 oz french strisselspalt@60 min
1 oz czech saaz @30 minutes
1 oz czech saaz @ 5 minutes
1 capfull of wyeast nutrient@5 min
5.5 gallon 60% eff
og 1.052, i usually do a 75 minute boil and end up with 5.25 gallon, but today i was in a hurry so i just did a 60 minute boil, mashed at 147 for 90 minutes, decanted my 2qt starter of wlp565 earlier this morning and let it warm up to fermentation temp, pitched around 1:30 this afternoon, there is already krausen forming, will post back how it goes, the starter smelled amazing, hopefully the beer will be the same

 

[ramjam]

hydrometer reading today was 1.004 tasted good, a little bit of alcohol taste in there but i am sure it will fade away with some time

 

[Jag75]

I see people talking about saisons but I've never tried one. Guess I'll have to look for one next time I'm at the store. Good luck with your first saison ramjam!

 

[ramjam]

I see people talking about saisons but I've never tried one. Guess I'll have to look for one next time I'm at the store. Good luck with your first saison ramjam!

thanks, yeah they are worth a try for sure.

 

[brownni5]

What do you suppose the 4 oz of Special B did for the Saison? I never would've thought to add that grain, though I do love it. My Saisons are generally pretty pale, no cara malts, but I've been reading Homebrewers Almanac (highly recommend for those of you looking to do something weird) and they have several Saison recipes with just a little Special B. Made me think...

Edit: Strisselspalt and Saaz are a couple of my faves!

 

[ramjam]

What do you suppose the 4 oz of Special B did for the Saison? I never would've thought to add that grain, though I do love it. My Saisons are generally pretty pale, no cara malts, but I've been reading Homebrewers Almanac (highly recommend for those of you looking to do something weird) and they have several Saison recipes with just a little Special B. Made me think...

Edit: Strisselspalt and Saaz are a couple of my faves!

i like special b, i use it quite a bit, one thing i have found though is that a little bit goes a long way, in my opinion, i think for this saison that it just added a hint of maltiness, maybe some dark fruit, the beer turned out really nice and i am thankful that i was able to avoid the dupont yeast strain stall.