I am thinking of doing a split batch of porter. Half fermented with an English yeast and half with a saison yeast. I am not sure if the chocolate and roast I would want in a porter will clash with the clove and pepper notes I would get from the saison.
Anyone have any experience with this or something similar?
I personally don’t think a Saison yeast would work well with a porter. The Belgian character of the yeast might clash with the chocolate and coffee notes in the beer. But hey, you may be on the cutting edge of a new iteration of the style (Belgian Porter?). Let me know how it turns out if you make it.
I don’t get a chance to experiment like this because I have trouble enough finding time to brew the tried and true so I enjoy hearing about things like this.
I get the flavors clashing theory but honestly think there is at least the same chance that the traditional porter chocolate and roast flavors overpower the saison yeast notes and they end up just lending a certain je ne sais quoi. I also think it might be tad drier than normal, which I like.
No experience with using a Saison yeast in a Porter, but I’ll +1 the above comments that this sounds like a fun thing for someone else to do and I will be following as well.
Lallemand Farmhouse will not attenuate as far as many other Saison yeasts and might be a great choice if you try this. It will still give you that classic Saison pepper/clove bite.