Saison Hi Nelson! Nelson Hopped Saison w/Hibiscus

[Andrew Hodgson]

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.

 

[Rob2010SS]

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?

 

[Abrayton]

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?

Just checked my notes. The last time I brewed this I kegged on day 11 and added hibiscus tea to the keg.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Just checked my notes. The last time I brewed this I kegged on day 11 and added hibiscus tea to the keg.

That's not bad at all! That's definitely doable... thanks

 

[Rob2010SS]

How is this recipe being such a high ABV? Would this be good toned down to maybe a 7%?

 

[Rob2010SS]

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?

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

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?

That's what I did, except I turn off the heat before adding the flowers to the tea.

 

[Rob2010SS]

That's what I did, except I turn off the heat before adding the flowers to the tea.

Thanks!

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

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

Thanks!

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

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.

 

[Rob2010SS]

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.

Thanks man. Appreciate it. Making this for my wife's baby shower so want to brew it this weekend.

 

[HomemadeSauce]

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?

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.

 

[Rob2010SS]

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.

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]

@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.

 

[Rob2010SS]

@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.

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?

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

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?

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.

 

[Rob2010SS]

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.

What about the sugar addition during the boil? Is that just to boost abv?

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

What about the sugar addition during the boil? Is that just to boost abv?

Yes that is for the ABV boost (although mine came in at a piddly 6%) and it also helps impart the distinctly dry quality that saisons tend to have.

 

[Abrayton]

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.

 

[Rob2010SS]

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

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

My LHBS caries 6 so that's what I used.

 

[Rob2010SS]

Sorry for all the questions...

Sometimes saisons can come across with a banana-ish flavor from the yeast. Does this belle saison give that flavor? I'm really trying to avoid it...

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

No worries, gotta get it right, especially for a baby shower!

This link shows the "flavor and aroma" profile: http://www.lallemandbrewing.com/en/canada/product-details/belle-saison-beer-yeast/

Others can chime in as well but I find the Belles Saison yeast gives more of a spicy-type saison flavor rather than the more fruity or banana type flavor. It should be noted I don't temperate control my saison yeasts I just put them in a warm room and let them rip. That is why for this I branched out to try a new saison yeast for this brew, I figured this recipe would lend itself to maybe a more fruit-forward type.

 

[Rob2010SS]

No worries, gotta get it right, especially for a baby shower!

This link shows the "flavor and aroma" profile: http://www.lallemandbrewing.com/en/canada/product-details/belle-saison-beer-yeast/

Others can chime in as well but I find the Belles Saison yeast gives more of a spicy-type saison flavor rather than the more fruity or banana type flavor. It should be noted I don't temperate control my saison yeasts I just put them in a warm room and let them rip. That is why for this I branched out to try a new saison yeast for this brew, I figured this recipe would lend itself to maybe a more fruit-forward type.

That's good info! Thanks man. I have temp control so I'll probably keep it upward of 75-80*F during fermentation and see how it comes out.

 

[Abrayton]

Edit - I forgot the OP used Belles Saison. I used 3711 to ferment to 1.000.

 

[RockyMtnGT]

Edit - I forgot the OP used Belles Saison. I used 3711 to ferment to 1.000.

I prefer 3711 or Imperial Napoleon for saison. It will go very dry, easily down to 1.005 or lower if you ferment it warm. The yeast esters are much lower than the Belgian saison strains. For my higher ABV saisons - 8%+ - I like to add .5lb of lactose to keep them from going to dry.

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

This is five days after bottling.

 

[Rob2010SS]

This is five days after bottling.
View attachment 615239

Got a better image of it? Sorry not trying to be picky. Just kinda wondering what it looks like in normal lighting

 

[Rob2010SS]

This is five days after bottling.
View attachment 615239

Did you say also how much flowers you used?

 

[Rob2010SS]

This is five days after bottling.
View attachment 615239

Disregard. You did say 4oz

 

[Andrew Hodgson]

Nah lighting is awful in the house might be able to get one with daylight tomorrow or Saturday. Backlight is the only way you’d be able to see the real tint. Definitely needs to condition a bit. I used 4oz in 4 cups of water. Definitely not deep pink.