briantompo
Member
Hello,
For those that don't want to read a long post: My first saison was tasty but the next 2 using harvested yeast are boring. I'm trying to figure out how to get the rich, saison flavors back. Is it ferm temp, yeast stress, trub or grain bill that produced the classic saison flavor in my first batch? What are your thoughts?
Here's the long, boring-ass part: I brewed my first saison in June using Wyeast 3724. It was a slow, quirky fermentation that smelled of sulfur early on but produced a tasty beer with banana, clove and Hoppes#9 flavors, similar to a Boulevard Tank7. It took 21 days, including a 14 day stall @ 1.030, to go from 1.053 to 1.006.
Saison #2 (1.053 to 1.005 and Pils base instead of Vienna) was fermented with harvested slurry and while it's clean, it tastes pretty bland by comparison. It lacks the rich banana/clove/gun cleaner flavor of the first batch and has a very slight chloraseptic flavor like a Goose Island Sofie. It's so boring that I keg hopped it with Nelson and Simcoe last night.
Saison #3 (Hi-Nelson recipe from HBT) was pitched onto the cake from #2 and left to open ferment. No airlock this time and it went from 1.062 to under 1.010 in 4 days! It tastes bland like batch #2 but I still racked it onto the hibiscus tea in secondary.
All 3 saisons fermented in the same PET carboy in my garage at 80-90F. Grain bills were similar: 78% base malt, 7% Lt. Munich, 7% candi sugar, 4% flaked wheat and 4% Quaker Oats. All 3 were bittered to about 30 IBU's. The first batch was very clear wort but batches 2 & 3 started with lots of trub.
I'm not opposed to starting over with fresh 3724 yeast but I would like to understand WHY the beers are so bland. What causes the banana, clove and pepper flavors? I'd like to hear your opinion so I can brew better beer.
Thanks, Brian
For those that don't want to read a long post: My first saison was tasty but the next 2 using harvested yeast are boring. I'm trying to figure out how to get the rich, saison flavors back. Is it ferm temp, yeast stress, trub or grain bill that produced the classic saison flavor in my first batch? What are your thoughts?
Here's the long, boring-ass part: I brewed my first saison in June using Wyeast 3724. It was a slow, quirky fermentation that smelled of sulfur early on but produced a tasty beer with banana, clove and Hoppes#9 flavors, similar to a Boulevard Tank7. It took 21 days, including a 14 day stall @ 1.030, to go from 1.053 to 1.006.
Saison #2 (1.053 to 1.005 and Pils base instead of Vienna) was fermented with harvested slurry and while it's clean, it tastes pretty bland by comparison. It lacks the rich banana/clove/gun cleaner flavor of the first batch and has a very slight chloraseptic flavor like a Goose Island Sofie. It's so boring that I keg hopped it with Nelson and Simcoe last night.
Saison #3 (Hi-Nelson recipe from HBT) was pitched onto the cake from #2 and left to open ferment. No airlock this time and it went from 1.062 to under 1.010 in 4 days! It tastes bland like batch #2 but I still racked it onto the hibiscus tea in secondary.
All 3 saisons fermented in the same PET carboy in my garage at 80-90F. Grain bills were similar: 78% base malt, 7% Lt. Munich, 7% candi sugar, 4% flaked wheat and 4% Quaker Oats. All 3 were bittered to about 30 IBU's. The first batch was very clear wort but batches 2 & 3 started with lots of trub.
I'm not opposed to starting over with fresh 3724 yeast but I would like to understand WHY the beers are so bland. What causes the banana, clove and pepper flavors? I'd like to hear your opinion so I can brew better beer.
Thanks, Brian