Belgian Saison fermentation temp and recipe

[majorvices]

@dmtaylor

@kylekohlmorgen

I’ve got opinions…

Belle Saison makes crummy saison.

Totally disagree.  It’s the same dang thing as 3711 anyway.

I’m with you, love the belle saison strain. Can’t understand why people have problems with it unless they ferment too hot. That said I probably like the 3711 better.

[mdixon]

If you want an orange color, just add a half ounce of chocolate.

IMO melanoidin malt has no place in a saison. I tend to like some sugar to dry out the beer and I use table sugar.

[jonhughey_att.net (HoosierBrew)]

A grist of Pils, Vienna, and a little wheat malt is my favorite for saison. It’s gold, not orange, but is pretty tasty. +1 to no melanoidan, crystal, or sugar.

[reverseapachemaster]

@Philbrew

@reverseapachemaster

@Philbrew

I’ve got some Cascade hops in there to add some citrus note.  Do you think that would compete with or complement the yeast notes?

I think cascade works exceedingly well in a saison, especially when mixed with European hops. Cascade by itself is too reminiscent of an APA or AIPA but blended with any type of European hops makes for a great saison. I like Cascade with any of the styrian varieties.

I’ve got 1/2 oz. of Cascade and a 1/2 oz. of Hallertau at 15 min. and 1 oz. of Hallertau whirlpool.
Your thoughts?  OK combination?  More of this, less of that???  I’ve also got some Sterling in the freezer.

I think that blend is fine. If you want a little more American or noble character you could adjust the mix one way or the other. Cascade is usually more prominent ounce for ounce than noble hops so a 25/75% blend favoring Hallertau probably gives you a good balance between the two.

[Philbrew]

@reverseapachemaster

@Philbrew

@reverseapachemaster

@Philbrew

I’ve got some Cascade hops in there to add some citrus note.  Do you think that would compete with or complement the yeast notes?

I think cascade works exceedingly well in a saison, especially when mixed with European hops. Cascade by itself is too reminiscent of an APA or AIPA but blended with any type of European hops makes for a great saison. I like Cascade with any of the styrian varieties.

I’ve got 1/2 oz. of Cascade and a 1/2 oz. of Hallertau at 15 min. and 1 oz. of Hallertau whirlpool.
Your thoughts?  OK combination?  More of this, less of that???  I’ve also got some Sterling in the freezer.

I think that blend is fine. If you want a little more American or noble character you could adjust the mix one way or the other. Cascade is usually more prominent ounce for ounce than noble hops so a 25/75% blend favoring Hallertau probably gives you a good balance between the two.

OK, thanks for the input.  I think I’ll go with that or maybe add a little Cascade the the whirlpool.

[Philbrew]

A grist of Pils, Vienna, and a little wheat malt is my favorite for saison. It’s gold, not orange, but is pretty tasty. +1 to no melanoidan, crystal, or sugar.

I’ve got a lb. of Vienna coming in the mail.  I’m now thinking 10# pilsner, 1# wheat & 1# Vienna = 4.0 SRM.
If I add 2 oz. of dehusked Carafa II it = 8.3 SRM. Do I care? I dunno.  Your thoughts please.

[pkmicha]

Consider brewing Jamil and Palmer’s Raison d’ Saison from Brewing Classic Styles (a great book to pick up if you haven’t already). My brew friend and I just brewed this recipe side-by-side on our equipment to determine whether it would make any difference in the flavor, but I digress:

10.5 lbs Continental (we used belgian) pilsener
0.75 lbs wheat (white wheat I believe)
0.75 lbs Munich malt

Mash at 147 F for 90 minutes
Boil for 90

Hops:
1 oz Hallertau at 60 min. (we used Liberty since the LHBS was out of Hallertau)
1 oz Hallertau at 0 min.

OG: 1.060
FG: 1.008

YEAST: WY3711 French Saison, pitching mid 60’s, using a wrap heater with temp controller ramping up about 1.5 degree F over 10 days to finish at 80F.

Impressions: after kegging at 3 volumes and tasting a week later it was a decent beer but kind of boring. I had another beer on tap on my single tap kegerator (but have space for two kegs) so I let it sit for two months. I am glad I did, since the cold storage and time really made this beer pop. We hit the OG and FG spot on, and it finished crisp and dry, and really allows 3711 to shine through.

Personally saisons are not my fav but after this brew I am going to make more. I think that Amarillo would be a nice spicy variant and would do well with 3711. This yeast ferments and flocs well. I would definitely recommend it as an intro to the style.

[ynotbrusum]

I make one or two Saisons per year at most and one is a mixed fermentation with fruit and Brett, but I have never tried 3711 for no reason that I can think of…so maybe that will be what I will use for an upcoming club barrel project (a 55 gallon rosé wine barrel that has tripel in it from January).

I heard that it really drives down the FG.  Which seems fair for a saison.  Hopefully the flavor is still complex - but given the barrel aging to occur, it probably will be just fine.