Saison Hi Nelson! Nelson Hopped Saison w/Hibiscus

Yakima 728
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This looked too far off my usual beaten path not to brew. Ended up with a SG 1.075 finished at 1.004 (prior to dilution from tea during secondary). Intentionally let this ferment warm, and timed it so that we had a string of 80+ days during fermentation. Post boil, I only chilled it down to 75 and let the process take it to where ever it decided to go (my fermtemp thermometer on the side of the carboy was maxed out at 80, so no idea how warm it really went).

I did use 8oz of hibiscus leaves in 1/2 gallon of boiling water. I steeped the leaves for 30 minutes in the water, and ended up with 1.5qts of tea which the beer was racked on to for secondary.

Taste has changed dramatically from bottling until today. At bottling I was very concerned about the tartness and bitterness and overall hibiscus-y-ness of the beer. All of that has mellowed, into just a real nice easy sipping summer beer. There are really nice floral notes, some tartnes, and almost a bit of white wine in the flavor. Very different, very cool, very fun to make. Totally not sessionable, but a great refreshing beer for a hot summer day. Thanks for the recipe!!

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I know that this is an older post but I found it and wanted to brew a version of this. I will be adding hibiscus in the boil and I will add ginger and lemon zest possibly. This will be my first saison. My question, when did you add the sugar? Beersmith shows 7.7% ABV without the sugar but 9.2 with the sugar.

Thanks
 
steelnoles said:
I know that this is an older post but I found it and wanted to brew a version of this. I will be adding hibiscus in the boil and I will add ginger and lemon zest possibly. This will be my first saison. My question, when did you add the sugar? Beersmith shows 7.7% ABV without the sugar but 9.2 with the sugar.



Thanks
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Save the hibiscus fermentation addition. Sugar should be added 15min-10min towards the end of the boil.
 
RevKev said:
The longer the better, I would just add tea that was steeped and strained to keg and let it sit that way
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not a bad idea.....I guess I can just dry-hop in primary then keg it with the tea and let it sit for a bit. Do you think a week is reasonable?

I brewed this on Thursday, trying to get it done by and drinkable by the 26th.
 
grassfeeder said:
not a bad idea.....I guess I can just dry-hop in primary then keg it with the tea and let it sit for a bit. Do you think a week is reasonable?

I brewed this on Thursday, trying to get it done by and drinkable by the 26th.
Click to expand...

Yes.. but the longer you let it sit the deeper it will infuse I'm sure it'll be supremely drinkable in a week. Also the head will become deeper and deeper pink. When I did it I used 64 ounces of water and a half pound of tea
 
I made a 7 gallon Batch of this doing a sortof partigyle: The first 5 Gallons were used to make this recipe, and the last 2 Gallons second runnings I used to make a session Pale ale.

What i didnt account for was how much higher the ABV on the first runnings would be. Ended up at 12% ABV, and was concerned it would be too hot and boozy. After about a month ageing, wow this is fantastic. Like cranberry champagne, goes down very easily for 12%.
Even though it should age well, its not going to last very long.

This is one of the best beers i have made. Great recipe. The hibiscus is a remarkably strong flavor. I used about 2 ox more than the recipe called for, to try and hide some of the high ABV bite, and initially, i was afraid that i had overdone it. It all blended together with time, but the amount listed in the recipe is right on target if i had been in the normal OG range rather than and Imperial Version.

Named mine Full Nelson, bc it gets ahold of you quite quickly
 
Has anybody "dry hopped" the hibiscus instead of making a tea? If so, did you stick with 8oz of flowers? Did you sanitize them at all?
 
I brewed this up 4/14/17, it came out fantastic. LHBS was out of Nelson, so on the fly I went with Sorachi Ace, Calypso, and German Blanc. Hibiscus was a bit strong at first but mellowed out after a week or two. Great beer! Thanks for the recipe!

hibiscus-68177.jpg
 
H
mattmmille said:
Sent a bottle of Hi-Nelson out to member Billy-Klubb. I'm not a trader really, but I had used his base recipe for Scottish Ale to make a Scottish pumpkin ale and, while sending a couple of bottles of that, I sent along a Hi-Nelson.

His comment: "my first ever Hi Nelson from mattmmille. I could drink a gallon of this stuff tonight! I can see why a bunch of you like it so much. great job Matt!"

Passing along kudos to @Fuzzymittenbrewing !!! I've had nothing but positive reviews on this beer!
Click to expand...

Hi Matt,
looking to brew this beer. Did you brew the original recipe or modified it slightly?
thanks
 
Did anyone tried a lower ABV version of this? Was thinking of not adding the sugar. Always had good attenuation with the yeast so very confident I would get it down to 1.004 at least.
Also, I was wondering if I should lower the hibiscus and nelson sauvin. Haven't tried the beer yet but want a more subtle version, unless you tell me it doesn't taste like fruit punch and still taste like beer.
Feedback/learnings are welcome! thanks for sharing. Will brew Friday eve
cheers
 
Doing a lower ABV version of this one. OG is @ 1.055 so aiming for a 6.5% final beer. Didn't add the sugar and just slightly more flaked oat for a nice mouthfeel. Brewed 15 gallon batch and will add the hibiscus tea to 10 Gal.
Otherwise followed the recipe as is with the Nelson Sauvin. fermenting 10G with Belle Saison and 5G with Escarpment Labs Old World Saison yeast.
both are fermenting nicely after 12 hours and smells great.
Will post results later
thanks for sharing this recipe
 
bolus14 said:
Has anybody "dry hopped" the hibiscus instead of making a tea? If so, did you stick with 8oz of flowers? Did you sanitize them at all?
Click to expand...

I know this is an older post, but I did "dry hop" a version of this last spring. I tweaked the recipe slightly, using Galaxy instead of Nelson, and used a different yeast that I had on hand. I ended up using an ounce per gallon of beer. In my case, 3 oz. It's been a few months since I've cracked a bottle but it did have a brilliant color and wasn't especially tart. I definitely recommend a hop sock - something I didn't use for some stupid reason.

I look forward to brewing something like this again, although I'll most likely follow what terrenum did and drop the sugar.
 
I've had the primary fermenting for over a month and I'm getting ready to dry-hop and add the hibiscus this week for bottling next week. Tastes amazing without the dry hop or hibiscus and I can't wait to drink this.

I got crazy high efficiency and if this fermented down to 1.000 it will end up being near 10%. That's OK with me.

Fermented at basement floor temps (ambient 66°F) and was concerned there wouldn't be enough funk. But my sample taste allayed my fears. Pleasantly funky with just a touch of saison dirt.

I did 15 gallons so I might finish 10 with hibiscus and 5 without to compare and contrast and savor the Nelson Sauvin.

So far so good and I think my patience will be rewarded.
 
Texconsinite said:
I made a 7 gallon Batch of this doing a sortof partigyle: The first 5 Gallons were used to make this recipe, and the last 2 Gallons second runnings I used to make a session Pale ale.

What i didnt account for was how much higher the ABV on the first runnings would be. Ended up at 12% ABV, and was concerned it would be too hot and boozy. After about a month ageing, wow this is fantastic. Like cranberry champagne, goes down very easily for 12%.
Even though it should age well, its not going to last very long.

This is one of the best beers i have made. Great recipe. The hibiscus is a remarkably strong flavor. I used about 2 ox more than the recipe called for, to try and hide some of the high ABV bite, and initially, i was afraid that i had overdone it. It all blended together with time, but the amount listed in the recipe is right on target if i had been in the normal OG range rather than and Imperial Version.

Named mine Full Nelson, bc it gets ahold of you quite quickly
Click to expand...
I had a similar "high gravity" experience with mine. I did an overnight mash and got much higher efficiency (over 82%) than expected (65%). The result was that my OG before I added the sugar was the target OG for the whole recipe. So I added the sugar at high krausen anyway, because imperial saison has such a nice ring to it. Then Belle Saison fermented this sucker down to 1.001 leaving me with a beer at 10.7%. It's dry-hopping now and next weekend I'll bottle with the hibiscus tea in the bottling bucket.

The taste without dry hops or hibiscus was nice. Potent and definitely a bit of alcohol heat, but delicious.
 
I am going to be whipping this up on Sunday. Going to stick with the original recipe given, may up the Nelson a bit as I am trying to get rid of what I have left from last year. I will probably add the pound of sugar to the hibiscus tea and add that one week into primary as I do not secondary. after that I'll let the Bootleg Saison Parfait ferment it as dry as she'll go and package. Excited to have some of this on hand.
 
Yielded 60 bottles, bottled the batch up on Saturday. Definitely achieved a lighter pink color than many of the other posts, but the hydro sample tasted good. When I get home will post any relevant process/recipe info.
 
So im looking for a pink-ish beer to make. I was going to do a strawberry rhubarb sour but I'm out of time. I need the beer to be carbed and bottled by 4/7 (carbing in the keg and bottling from there). If i were to brew this weekend is that enough time for this beer?
 
Rob2010SS said:
So im looking for a pink-ish beer to make. I was going to do a strawberry rhubarb sour but I'm out of time. I need the beer to be carbed and bottled by 4/7 (carbing in the keg and bottling from there). If i were to brew this weekend is that enough time for this beer?
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Just checked my notes. The last time I brewed this I kegged on day 11 and added hibiscus tea to the keg.
 
Also, never made a tea before. To make this hibiscus tea, do you...

1. Boil water
2. Add the flowers to the boiling water
3. Kill the heat and let them steep for 30 min
4. Strain the flowers out and add to beer

Sound about right?
 
Rob2010SS said:
Also, never made a tea before. To make this hibiscus tea, do you...

1. Boil water
2. Add the flowers to the boiling water
3. Kill the heat and let them steep for 30 min
4. Strain the flowers out and add to beer

Sound about right?
Click to expand...

That's what I did, except I turn off the heat before adding the flowers to the tea.
 
Rob2010SS said:
Thanks!

You stated yours achieved a much lighter pink color. Did you reduce the amount of hibiscus?
Click to expand...

That was only in the hydro sample, I just bottled on Saturday so I probably won't test one until this weekend and see what the final color looks like carbed in the glass. I will post the variations on OP's recipe I did once I get to my brewing notes. I also didn't get great efficiency and I think only got between 6-7% ABV, but again I will post my results later today so I can accurately answer your questions.

Off the top of my head I believe I did use less of the flowers in my tea than OP.
 
Andrew Hodgson said:
That was only in the hydro sample, I just bottled on Saturday so I probably won't test one until this weekend and see what the final color looks like carbed in the glass. I will post the variations on OP's recipe I did once I get to my brewing notes. I also didn't get great efficiency and I think only got between 6-7% ABV, but again I will post my results later today so I can accurately answer your questions.

Off the top of my head I believe I did use less of the flowers in my tea than OP.
Click to expand...

Thanks man. Appreciate it. Making this for my wife's baby shower so want to brew it this weekend.
 
Rob2010SS said:
Also, never made a tea before. To make this hibiscus tea, do you...

1. Boil water
2. Add the flowers to the boiling water
3. Kill the heat and let them steep for 30 min
4. Strain the flowers out and add to beer

Sound about right?
Click to expand...

You probably don't even need to steep for 30 minutes. I'd make a hibiscus syrup for a bar and typically had the flowers in the water for 10-15 minutes. You might get some tannin extraction from a longer steep but I'm not convinced it would be noticeable. Also, I usually prefer my saisons on the lighter end of the spectrum. Last I brewed this I tuned it down to around 6% - if I brew again I may go even lower.
 
HomemadeSauce said:
You probably don't even need to steep for 30 minutes. I'd make a hibiscus syrup for a bar and typically had the flowers in the water for 10-15 minutes. You might get some tannin extraction from a longer steep but I'm not convinced it would be noticeable. Also, I usually prefer my saisons on the lighter end of the spectrum. Last I brewed this I tuned it down to around 6% - if I brew again I may go even lower.
Click to expand...

That's kind of where I'm at. This is going to be given out to people at a baby shower and not everyone is going to be fans of a 9-10% saison...

I think I may tone this down to about 7%. I think that may even be on the high end for people but from the sound of the results others got, I think it'll be good.
 
Andrew Hodgson said:
@Rob2010SS Got my notes in front of me now. I used 4 cups of h20 to 4ounces of hibiscus plus 2 ounces of table sugar for the tea.
Click to expand...

Is the point of the table sugar in this recipe just to boost ABV? Or is there another point to it?

I'm going to add the tea to the keg when the beer is done so I'll add the sugar to the boil, if I keep it. @Andrew Hodgson do you have a picture of your beer with the 4oz of flowers?
 
Rob2010SS said:
Is the point of the table sugar in this recipe just to boost ABV? Or is there another point to it?

I'm going to add the tea to the keg when the beer is done so I'll add the sugar to the boil, if I keep it. @Andrew Hodgson do you have a picture of your beer with the 4oz of flowers?
Click to expand...

Anytime I open the fermenter to add anything to it I add at least 2oz of sugar to kick up fermentation. Sometimes if I want an abv boost I will use more but the 2oz is the minimum. If you are planning on adding the tea to the keg you can disregard the sugar.

No picture yet, it will probably be ready for sampling/pictures and all that this weekend. The only reason I did 1cup/1oz and only 4 ounces was for ease of handling the flowers really, also my volume came out pretty high on this so I wasn't about to add a large amount of liquid to the fermenter as I had very little headspace to work with.
 
Andrew Hodgson said:
Anytime I open the fermenter to add anything to it I add at least 2oz of sugar to kick up fermentation. Sometimes if I want an abv boost I will use more but the 2oz is the minimum. If you are planning on adding the tea to the keg you can disregard the sugar.

No picture yet, it will probably be ready for sampling/pictures and all that this weekend. The only reason I did 1cup/1oz and only 4 ounces was for ease of handling the flowers really, also my volume came out pretty high on this so I wasn't about to add a large amount of liquid to the fermenter as I had very little headspace to work with.
Click to expand...

What about the sugar addition during the boil? Is that just to boost abv?
 
This yeast ferments down to 1.000 every time I use it, so it should be plenty dry without a sugar addition if you want to keep the ABV down.
 
What munich malt are you guys using for this, as far as the lovibond goes? 7, 10, 15...?

To get it close to the color in the OP's post, I have to use 20L munich to get 5.3 SRM
 

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