Saison is a little out of style..whatcha think?

[EkieEgan]

So a month ago, I brewed my first Saison. I used pilsner, a pound of wheat and a pound of organic sugar to boost it. I also spiced with blood orange peel and coriander. I used White Labs WL568. This isn't a huge deal I guess..I am just wanting a little feedback as I have never brewed a Saison before, but love the style. My O.G. was 1.063 and the WL568 brought it down to 1.002 after 4 weeks. By the BJCP guidelines, the alcohol is too high for the style. It's at 8%. The yeast sure did it's job with 97% attenuation! I bottled 4 1/2 gallons today and got 21 bottles and got to use my new corker It tastes great and smells good too..any seasoned Saison brewers out there? What do ya think?

 

[mb82]

Personally my saisons range from 4% table saison to 9%ers. Honestly unless I am planning on competing with a beer I hardly look at the guidelines.

 

[Sailingeric]

Personally my saisons range from 4% table saison to 9%ers. Honestly unless I am planning on competing with a beer I hardly look at the guidelines.

What he said I have me some saison. I have not added anything extra to the ones I brewed but I have a lovely one tap that I got the yeast from the dregs from Worthy Brewing's Farmout Saison http://www.worthybrewing.com/farm-out-saison.html I fermented at 77 degrees and it came out nice and spicy. I will be making another batch soon and I will try it at a cooler temp just to see how the yeast do flavor wise as mine came out a little spicier than the original.

 

[rupert130]

Saison is barely a style. It is open to interpretation unless you are competing in a bjcp comp. I love saisons and when I brew I usually split out half the wort and pitch with saison yeast no matter what style it is.

 

[shellsbells]

Saison is barely a style. It is open to interpretation unless you are competing in a bjcp comp. I love saisons and when I brew I usually split out half the wort and pitch with saison yeast no matter what style it is.

When you've done this, which other styles do you find the saison yeast works best with?

 

[HausBrauerei_Harvey]

When you've done this, which other styles do you find the saison yeast works best with?

I second I do this saison split all the time since i've got a 10 gallon system. I've done it on pale ales, IPAs, kolsch, and hoppy brown ales. I have my favorite on-tap now, IPA fermented with saison yeast, it really tones down the hop bitterness and adds lots of wonderful esters making a really complex beer.

 

[rupert130]

When you've done this, which other styles do you find the saison yeast works best with?

Wheats, any light style, even had good luck with browns and porters. Belgian styles work well too. I haven't tried it in anything extremely roasty or any barrel aged, whiskey soaked, vanilla, cherry, anything.

 

[m00ps]

IME, you need to account for the high attenuation with recipe design. Ive had ones that, even using 85% expected apparent attenuation, got a decent amount higher %abv than expected. A couple have gone over 100% which I suppose is why its "apparent" attenuation

 

[specharka]

I've got a rye saison Brett and a farmhouse ale blend going right now, as well as another saison Brett bottle conditioning. I've never been able to dry out my saisons as well as others on this forum have -- they usually finish around 1.008. I don't use simple sugars in the grainbill, use a large portion of flaked adjunct, and mash higher than most, so that probably doesn't help.

Love the style though...it's all about the yeast, IME. There are some fantastic highly hopped saisons (Hill Farmstead Dorothy is tops) and plenty of spiced variations available, but it all comes back to the yeast.

 

[EkieEgan]

I've never been able to dry out my saisons as well as others on this forum have -- they usually finish around 1.008.

I have never had a beer drop this low either, but I am new to this style of beer..I was pretty surprised when I saw the hydrometer sink that low lol..I mashed in at 149 and everything was fermentable. I also never went above 74 degrees. So why would a yeast that says medium attenuation drop this low? I honestly was thinking along the lines of 1.008.

 

[ChocolateMaltyBalls]

Saisons are more of a feeling than a style. As long as it's bone dry and relatively light it's a saison to me. Otherwise throw in whatever's on the farm, I like wheat and rye (not at the same time) and subtle citrus goes well. 3711 or DuPont or both are my go to yeasties. To hell with the guidelines.

 

[madscientist451]

I've used Saison strains in cider and they ferment almost all the way dry, to about 1.002, so I'm not surprised with your mash at 149 you got that low.

 

[serum]

I find the attenuation figures for yeasts are always quite conservative. There's nothing wrong with making that style strong and its a style that allows for experimentation

 

[chickypad]

By the BJCP guidelines, the alcohol is too high for the style. It's at 8%.

I agree with the others that saison is one of the widest "styles" out there, and if you're not entering comp who cares anyway. But just FYI you're not out of range with BJCP, either the old or new guidelines. The 2008 ones state ABV of 5-8.5%, the 2015 guidelines just say you need to specify strength:

Entry Instructions: The entrant must specify the strength
(table, standard, super) and the color (pale, dark).

ABV: 3.5 – 5.0% (table)
5.0 – 7.0% (standard)
7.0 – 9.5% (super)

 

[EkieEgan]

huh..I must have clicked on an old BJCP. I agree with everyone here regarding style guidelines. I rarely follow them myself, but since this was my first Saison, I figured I would check the "rule book" to kinda stay in the ballpark before wandering off the beaten path. Good stuff as always fellow HBers. Cheers!