StormesABrewin
Member
This is going to be a long one so I can give as much detail as possible.
On 1/25/14, I brewed my second batch ever, a Saison extract kit from my LHBS. Started with steeping 8 oz of Caramunich in 3 1/2 gallons of bottled artesian water. I got the water to 160 degrees, pulled it off the heat (old electric stove that is difficult to keep temp), steeped, covered and let sit for 30 minutes. Put the kettle back on the heat and proceeded with the rest of the recipe.
Rest of the brewing was pretty uneventful. Cooled my wort, transferred to fermenter, pitched my Belle Saison yeast, shook the crap out of my bucket and stored it. Fermented in a closet with ambient temps of approx. 65 degrees (I have a poorly insulated house in Colorado so it doesn't get too warm in the winter).
Anyhoo, on Wednesday, Feb 5, I took a gravity reading in prep for bottling this weekend. My gravity reading was right on the money (1.010) so I thought I'd taste it, just for fun. It had a slight sour taste at the beginning, was pretty smooth and then had a bitter finish. I'm planning on taking another gravity reading later today.
My question is, since this is the first time I've tasted wort, is this normal for a Saison? Will it mellow during bottle conditioning? Should I keep it in the fermenter for longer? Am I just being a paranoid noob since my first batch was a complete disaster that, looking back, I should have let age for longer?
Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom.
On 1/25/14, I brewed my second batch ever, a Saison extract kit from my LHBS. Started with steeping 8 oz of Caramunich in 3 1/2 gallons of bottled artesian water. I got the water to 160 degrees, pulled it off the heat (old electric stove that is difficult to keep temp), steeped, covered and let sit for 30 minutes. Put the kettle back on the heat and proceeded with the rest of the recipe.
Rest of the brewing was pretty uneventful. Cooled my wort, transferred to fermenter, pitched my Belle Saison yeast, shook the crap out of my bucket and stored it. Fermented in a closet with ambient temps of approx. 65 degrees (I have a poorly insulated house in Colorado so it doesn't get too warm in the winter).
Anyhoo, on Wednesday, Feb 5, I took a gravity reading in prep for bottling this weekend. My gravity reading was right on the money (1.010) so I thought I'd taste it, just for fun. It had a slight sour taste at the beginning, was pretty smooth and then had a bitter finish. I'm planning on taking another gravity reading later today.
My question is, since this is the first time I've tasted wort, is this normal for a Saison? Will it mellow during bottle conditioning? Should I keep it in the fermenter for longer? Am I just being a paranoid noob since my first batch was a complete disaster that, looking back, I should have let age for longer?
Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom.
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