Saison?

[claphamsa]

I wanna make a Saison, but all the recipes im finding have insane mash schedules.... is this 100% required? Does anyone have a recipe with a normal mash schedule?

 

[Edcculus]

Can't say that I've seen complicated mash schedules. I'd do a long low mash. Something like 145 for 90 min. You could step it up to 155 for the last 20 min or so. The point is that you are trying the wort as fermenable as humanly possible so it turns out nice and dry.

I'd suggest listening to the Jamil Show podcast on Saison. IMO, its the best Jamil Show episode.

Also, make sure you use Saison yeast. No spices etc. The flavors should be all yeast derived.

 

[Cugel]

I'd suggest listening to the Jamil Show podcast on Saison. IMO, its the best Jamil Show episode.

Also, make sure you use Saison yeast. No spices etc. The flavors should be all yeast derived.

+1000 on this.

I made a mistake and put orange peel into my saison, I regret that so much it's scary. The saison yeast is truly magnificent in producing a stunning beer, just leave it alone to do it's work.

Also on the Jamil show they note that you should ferment the second half (or maybe last 1/3) of the fermentation at high temps to get the yeast to finish. It has a habit of sticking, and looking dead, at 75%. Some heat, a few swirls and it'll keep on chugging over 80%.

You need the saison to finish dry, 1.008 or less.

 

[keelanfish]

I'd also suggest waiting for the White Labs Saison II yeast to come out again. I've got a stuck fermentation at 1.031 using the Saison I yeast.

 

[Doog_Si_Reeb]

I'd suggest listening to the Jamil Show podcast on Saison. IMO, its the best Jamil Show episode.

I'll second this. There is good advice on that show for mashing, grain bill, getting good attenuation, etc. I'm going to do my first Saison here in a few weeks and I'm glad I listened to that one.

 

[rsmith179]

I 100% agree with listening to Jamil's episode about Saisons... can't go wrong listening to them before you brew. Gotta keep up the high fermentation temps (80F plus...) to keep the yeast active and also release the esters that are found in Saisons. This alone will give you a somewhat fruity taste, but I don't see why you can't add spices as well.

One of the other guys really regrets putting oranges in his Saison. I have to disagree. I have a Saison right now with bitter orange peel, grains of paradise, and corriander. None of those spices were used heavily, but they do produce a wonderful taste in the beer, IMHO.