I got a free Festa Brew kit...Time to experiment

[jwalk4]

So I got a free Festa Brew kit (pre hopped, pasteurized, ready-to-pitch, wort in a bag), as a gift.

Its the wheat beer kit, and I see this as the perfect opportunity to try something I have been mulling over for a while: saison yeast (Danstar) on a wheat grain bill. It's been a while since I made a saison. So help me out with a few opinion questions.

How long should I condition this thing before I think about consuming it?

Many saisons are dry hopped and or seasoned with spices (zest and coriander, etc). I'm not against spicing, but should I dry hop on a wheat grain bill? Would that taste weird?

Temps in the ole basement are around 68 ambient this time of year, and I'd rather not tie up my SS brewbucket with this thing, but is 68 enough to get a saison from start to finish? Or should I find a place to bump up the temp?

 

[mrgrimm101]

I vote for dry hopping. I would imagine something fruity like Mosaic, Citra, or Galaxy would go well with the style. Or try Sorachi Ace. I've had Brooklyn's Sorachi Ace saison and it was pretty good. A bit too dilly for my preference, but the lemon was nice.

 

[jwalk4]

Here is how it turned out: wayyyy better than I had expected.

I am somewhat ashamed to say that I didn't hold out much hope for this beer. I figured, "Free kit? readily available yeast? Ahh, what the hell!" Thus, I mistreated it something awful! No temp control, no additional oxygen, no dry hopping or spices, and no f***s given. Just a plain old bucket and some rehydrated Belle Saison!

The Belle Saison yeast really gives a beautiful aroma and flavor of smooth spice and a citrus banana blend. Wonderfully pillow-y smooth mouthfeel.

This will be a SWMBO pleaser for sure!