Session or lawn mower version of Belgian Saison?

[troy2000]

I recently gifted a couple with my rendition of Shipwrecked Saison. Both of them said they loved the taste, but it was 'too strong' for them. They normally drink light beers....

Also, I've read that saisons were originally brewed by Belgian farmers for their harvest crews. If that's true, they obviously weren't serving those crews 7 1/2% ABV beer; they wouldn't have gotten much work out of them.

So I'm looking for a session or lawn mower version of Shipwrecked Saison: a recipe that evokes the essential character and taste of a modern saison, but has an ABV somewhere near that of BMC.

Does anyone out there have any recommendations?

 

[mb82]

Session Saison

I have brewed this and it was great. Friends loved it and keep asking when will I brew it again. I did sub Hallertauer and Cascade for hops but that was just my little rendition.

 

[troy2000]

Session Saison

I have brewed this and it was great. Friends loved it and keep asking when will I brew it again. I did sub Hallertauer and Cascade for hops but that was just my little rendition.

That looks like what I had in mind; thanks. Maybe I should've just googled 'session saison,' instead of starting a new thread....

 

[mb82]

That looks like what I had in mind; thanks. Maybe I should've just googled 'session saison,' instead of starting a new thread....

It is not a big deal. One thing I noticed is the "Saison" flavor did take a while to really come out in this beer, like 2 solid months in the bottle. Just a word of warning. It tasted good at first, kinda not sure what it was. But, after two months there was no question it was a Saison. Your results may vary.

 

[bulldogwinters]

I know you're a fan of the belle saison yeast, I used it in a few simple 2 gallon SMaSH saison recipes and am VERY happy with them. I'm not sure what your idea of a sessionable beer is, but these finished with 4.3 and 4.6% One was Vienna/Saaz @33 IBU and the other was a Vienna/Perle @32 IBU. The ABV differences were due to slightly better efficiency on the Perle batch+ higher attenuation.
Recipes were both 4lbs vienna and 2 oz of each hop.

I'm getting ready to brew a 5 gallon version of this SMaSH with wyeast3711, saaz, and a little ginger root.

 

[Hopinista]

I posted my recipe for a session saison. Lots of saison character at around 4% abv. Might be exactly what you're looking for

 

[troy2000]

I went ahead and brewed a small saison, more or less inspired by the Session Saison recipe posted by mb82. I used 5 lbs of pilsner, 1 lb of malted wheat, and 8 oz of Vienna malt. I may have gone too light on the hops: I used 3/4 oz Willamette at 60 minutes, 3/4 oz of Willamette at ten minutes, and dry-hopped with an oz of of Saaz after the Krausen went down. And of course I used Belle Saison yeast....

It finished up at 4.2 ABV), and I bottled it a few days ago. I'll give an update on how it came out in a few weeks. Three gallons went into a case of 16 oz aluminum Bud Light bottles, so I can take some homebrew fishing and camping without worrying about broken glass.

Add: I'm trying to remember whether I also included a pound of raw wheat. I was planning to, but don't think I actually did.

 

[troy2000]

Update: I think I mentioned my problem with this in another thread: I forgot to prime it. Oh well, I worked so many overtime days I didn't go fishing this year anyway.

After it sat around for a while, I tried priming a bottle of it with dry sugar. Surprise! It had just enough carbonation to coalesce around the sugar grains and give me a bottle fountain. So back on the shelt the rest of them went.

Eventually someone on another thread suggested priming with simple syrup instead of dry sugar. I smacked myself in the forehead, said 'drrr,' and did just that. I let them condition for about three weeks, and started drinking them.

Light and tasty; they're almost gone now. The batch would definitely have fulfilled its intended role as an ice-cold thirst quencher for summer fishing. It's almost like drinking a Bud Light that someone accidentally spilled some flavor into....

Back when I first tasted one, I was unimpressed; it tasted watery. I don't know how much of that was lack of carbonation, how much was not being well-chilled, and how much was just needing time in the bottle to bring out the flavor.