Imperial Black Saison Recipe Help

[daveafrank]

Hi guys, I'm a couple weeks out from brewing this and would love some input! I was really inspired after having The City Never Sleeps black saison from Gigantic in Portland. I don't have a bottle on hand, but I remember a wonderful maltiness with fruity bubblegum flavors. Low hopping and a sweet aroma.

My concerns would be that the roastiness of the dark malts would overpower some of the fruity notes. I definitely want

10 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) 75.5 %
1 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) 7.5 %
1 lbs Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) 7.5 %
8.0 oz Carafa III (525.0 SRM) 3.8 %
8.0 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) 3.8 %
4.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) 1.9 %
0.50 oz Columbus [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min 24.2 IBUs
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins)
1.00 oz Mt. Hood [6.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min 4.1 IBUs
1.00 oz Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 5.0 mins)
1.00 oz Partially Cracked Coriander Seed (Boil 5.0 mins)
2.0 pkg French Saison (Wyeast Labs #3711) [50.28 ml]Yeast

Mash @154, mash out at 170

Est Original Gravity: 1.072 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.016 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 7.4 %
Bitterness: 28.4 IBUs
Est Color: 32.6 SRM


THANKS!!

 

[peterj]

I'm not really sure what you would want in a Black Saison, but I know regular saisons should finish as dry as possible with a very low FG. They're usually mashed around 148F and they try to finish them at or under 1.010. I think the style guideline is 1.002 - 1.012.

 

[iversenbeer]

For the Carafa III make sure it is the "special" dehusked variety otherwise you will run into those strong roasty flavors. I just made a black belgian wheat beer and used that for the color, it was really nice. Just a very slight roasty/chocolatey note from the carafa. Here is the recipe if you wanted to look http://hopville.com/recipe/1672107

Other than that you might want to swap the chocolate malt for pale chocolate malt as well. Peterj is right too, maybe add .5-1lb sugar to dry it out a bit (3711 is a beast though, if you mash at a lower temp it should go low enough without sugar)

 

[daveafrank]

Thanks guys! That sounds like a smart move to add a little sugar to the mix. I definitely like the dryness.

 

[tennesseean_87]

3711 took a BDSA from 1.098 to 1.005 for me with 8% sugar. I mashed at 153-4 for 75 minutes.

I've used it a few times, and not sure I've gotten much bubble-gum. I know others have found it to have a little muted flavor profile, so you might want to research that if it's the major flavor component you're going for.