First try at a sasion

[jhoy81]

I'm looking for some input on my first Saison. I'm looking to get a light maltiness out of it, keep the bittering low, and having the favor predominately citrusy with a nice fruitiness. I want this to be a good summer beer. Something refreshing on the hot days.

What do you guys think? And please give me a little leeway this is my first time posting, and I only have 5 or 6 brews under my belt. I kind of dove in head first.

Fermentation will be done at 68 degrees give or take a couple of degrees, and dry hoping will happen in the secondary. 75% efficiency is based on my last all grain brew.And this will be my first time dry hopping

Brew Method: All Grain
Style Name: Saison
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 5.5 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 7.5 gallons
Boil Gravity: 1.048
Efficiency: 75% (brew house)

STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.065
Final Gravity: 1.015
ABV (standard): 6.6%
IBU (tinseth): 39.27
SRM (morey): 13.73

FERMENTABLES:
5 lb - American - Pale 2-Row (38.5%)
5 lb - American - Pilsner (38.5%)
2 lb - American - Caramel / Crystal 60L (15.4%)
1 lb - American - Wheat (7.7%)

HOPS:
1 oz - New Zealand Motueka, Type: Pellet, AA: 8.5, Use: Boil for 20 min, IBU: 18.17
0.5 oz - German Hull Melon, Type: Pellet, AA: 7.5, Use: Aroma for 15 min, IBU: 6.57
1 oz - Australian Summer, Type: Pellet, AA: 6.4, Use: Aroma for 10 min, IBU: 8.19
1 oz - Czech Sladek, Type: Pellet, AA: 9, Use: Aroma for 5 min, IBU: 6.33
1 oz - German Mandarina Bavaria, Type: Pellet, AA: 10, Use: Dry Hop for 10 days

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Fly Sparge, Temp: 152 F, Time: 60 min
Starting Mash Thickness: 1.25 qt/lb

YEAST:
White Labs - Cream Ale Yeast Blend WLP080
Starter: No
Form: Liquid
Attenuation (avg): 77.5%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Temp: 65 - 70 F

 

[agrazela]

Seems a strange choice of yeast.

 

[boxofjibboo]

For it to be a saison, it needs saison yeast, IMO. Drop the crystal, add dark munich. I think caramel is out if place for saisons.


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[jhoy81]

I'm sure I'm wrong for calling it a Saison. Still a little knew to things and I think the Saison would be more carbonated than my end goal. I wasn't really sure what to call the style. and I wish I knew how to edit the thread name. looks like I started with a first post fail.

 

[agrazela]

I'm no style nazi, but I guess I'd call that a Pale Ale. Or how about a Summer Ale?

If you want it to be a "to-style" Saison, like said switch to a Saison yeast and do a free-rise ferment.

And add some simple sugar (or honey, or corn syrup, whatever you want) to the bill (maybe dropping some grain) for more attenuation / fermentability. Maybe mash a few degrees cooler for same reasons.

And maybe cut some of that Crystal malt to lighten color and caramel-ness.

 

[boxofjibboo]

But, I would like to say, your hops look good!


If you switch to a saison yeast, It will help dry out the beer lower than 1.01 and the hops will really shine. Just expect the abv to jump if you keep the same grain weight.


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[jhoy81]

Thanks for the vote of confidence with the hop selection. I'm going to give it a shot in the next couple of weeks, so we'll see.

 

[signpost]

Two pounds of crystal malt is too much for just about any style, IMHO. And like has already been said, it won't be a Saison unless you use a Saison yeast. The hops pique my interest a bit, as I'm not familiar with any of those varieties. But it is unusual to see every addition being a different hop variety.

Chances are, if you brew this recipe as you posted it, you'll get beer. But it won't be anything you'll probably want to try to replicate on a future brew day (barring the unlikely but possible creation of a crazy awesome unheard of new style). I'm all for pushing the boundaries of traditional styles, but I'm not sure what style would really be considered the starting point for this recipe.

I started making my own recipes by my 4th batch. It wasn't the greatest recipe ever, but I ended up enjoying it. If you want to go for it, and you are open to accepting the beer on its own terms when it is finished, then do it. If you have an idea in your head of what it will taste like and are likely to be disappointed and discouraged if it doesn't come out how you expect, then do some searching for tried and true recipes instead. Then you can put a little of your own spin on it if you want, but you won't be taking as big of a risk.

 

[ericbw]

Hang on... why did you want to make a saison? Do you like saisons? If so, then you're getting there. You said you wanted low bitterness, but 39 IBU seems aggressive. (Not sure if it is different because it's Tinseth.)

Like has already been said, lower the crystal. Add sugar to raise the OG and alcohol to where you want it. That will also balance out the crystal.

And definitely use a saison yeast and ferment it warmer than you think you should.

But if you don't like saisons, then maybe you're on the right track for a light summer ale. Still lower the crystal and maybe add sugar. Then use the cream ale yeast and ferment low.

It sort of comes down to what you really want it to taste like.

 

[40watt]

You should be very careful with Crystal malt no matter what you are making.
I personally never use any Crystal in a Saison or any light summer beer. If you had to have some color, I'd go with the dark Munich, or a very small amount of Caramunich.

If you want a cream ale, just go much easier on the Crystal.