This will be my first saison. I started working on the recipe at NB forums but figured maybe I can get some more advice here too. I’m trying to make this more in the style of the older farmhouse saison’s, which is why the OG is so low compared to most modern saison’s. Also want this to be an American Farmhouse hence the 2-row pale and other malts from Valley Malt.
According to Br’uin Water, the 4 ounces of acid malt along with a bit of chalk (which I need for the calcium anyway) will put my pH right around 5.3 so I think I’ll be ok with it. I could get the calcium by skipping acid malt and chalk and going with gypsum and calcium chloride but I thought it might be ok to try the acid malt.
There used to be a saison brewed by The Alchemist in Waterbury, VT called Farmer’s Daughter - which I’m not trying to clone but just be inspired by. It was dry but the mouthfeel was sort of creamy or rounded. I figure maybe they got that from rye or wheat but not not sure which one to try. It also had hints of “breadyness” and honey hence the small amount of Victory and the honey. Overall though it was a fairly clean light malt profile so I don’t want to overdue things.
It also had hints of black pepper and citrus but I don’t know if it was spiced or it just came from the yeast. It was definetely subtle and not “in your face” so I thought for the first round I would use WY3711 and skip any spice additions.
I’m a bit skeptical of my grain bill after looking at some others out there. It seems kind of busy and I definetely want a fairly clean profile to let the yeast shine. Any comments would be appreciated.
For 6.25 gallons @ 70% EE
OG: 1.041
Estimated IBU: 18 (BU:GU = 0.44)
Estimated SRM: 6
Estimated ABV: 4.7% (could go a little higher as I hear the yeast chews through everything)
Mash for 80 minutes @ 148
Grain Bill:
7 pounds Valley Malt 2-row Pale
1.5 pounds Valley Malt rye (or same amount red wheat)
8 ounces Victory Malt
4 ounces acidulated malt (trying to get a little sour twang)
1 pound local honey (added at flameout)
Hops:
0.25oz Crystal @ FWH
0.25oz Mount Hood @ FWH
0.5oz Mount Hood @ 60
1oz Crystal @ 1
Looking for a bit of citrus flavor and a flowery nose.
Yeast:
French Saison Wyeast 3711 pitched at 62F and slowly bring up to 75F.
(Also considering splitting the batch and pitching half with WLP670 and letting it go for a while for some funk.)