Saisons

[Clint]

Hello all
Prompted by ajhutch. .."it's saison season" on another thread. .....I've only drank one season...youngs new world kit..well two..including electric India by brew dog...I thought my kit was comparable....anyway,I'm wondering who can recommend a recipe! Is there one in the gh? Away atm.....

 

[serum]

All pilsner is a good way to start, aiming for 5-6% ABV. You can swap a third of that for wheat, rye or spelt if you want a variation.

My favourite hop combination is Challenger for bittering, Goldings and Saaz for flavour and aroma. get it to about 30-35 IBU.

French Saison / Belle Saison if you want it to be super dry. White Labs Saison 2 if you want it to be more fruity.

The drier yeasts can end anywhere between 1.005 and 1.000 and will chew through anything so don't overdo it on the OG.

 

[Clint]

Thanks! So it's the yeast that makes it a saison...?

 

[Ajhutch]

Thanks! So it's the yeast that makes it a saison...?

Exactly

I’m planning one at the moment very much along the lines that serum posted.

I should add that I don’t really know if it is Saison season from a tradition/historical perspective but I do know that 1) it’s quite nice to drink a very dry refreshing Saison in summer and 2) the yeasts tend to like warm temperatures so they can comfortably be brewed in summer. And of course summer is just around the corner!

 

[Drunkula]

I really liked this guy. I've heard of saisons being brewed out in 2 days because you can roast the damned things and the flavours developed are part of the charm. I like that. Sod the fermentation fridge, just get them on the bonfire.

 

[MrRook]

There's an article in the current BYO about brewing with various forms of rice that had a saison recipe that's pretty good.

 

[Duxuk]

I brewed 2 saisons last summer without temp. control. They were dry as a bone. The warmer you brew, the drier they are likely to be . I used Mangrove Jacks M29 French Saison yeast and about a third wheat malt. The rest was lager malt. I hopped with Hallertauer Blanc. My first ended at 1.003 giving me 6.7% ABV but it tasted light enough. I'd have just preferred a hint of sweetness but generally enjoyed. You should leave them to mature for a good while but there's no chance of that with me!

 

[Saisonator]

This is a good recipe.

 

[Zephyr259]

I brewed a saison in November and it's pretty tasty, recipe was based on the advice from Farmhouse Ales, which is a very interesting book if you get into the style.

For a 15 L batch I used:
2.5 kg Irish lager malt, 500g Weyermann Munich II, 250g Malted Wheat

Mashed at 64c.

20g of 6% East Kent Goldings at 90 mins
15g of 6% East Kent Goldings at 15 mins
10g of 6% East Kent Goldings at 0 min
20g of 3.4% Saaz at 0 min

I use a grainfather so the last 2 additions got a whirlpool and hop stand for 10 - 15 mins at boiling temp.

The star of the show is the Wyeast 3716 Farmhouse Ale yeast, very fruity and slightly spicy, when the beer was fresh it tasted of pineapples but that faded over the first month. For me this was pleasantly hoppy (I don't like IPAs), floral and herbal rather than the citrusy hop flavours. EKG and Saaz seem to blend well with this yeast.

Started fermentation at 19c for 3 days then raised 1c per day til 24c and held, bottled after 10 days carbing to 2.5 vols.

OG 1.054 (was aiming for 1.051 at 75%), FG 1.007 (as predicted), 6.2% abv, 29 IBU.

I've got another brew with this yeast planned and I hope it's as good as this one.

 

[AdeDunn]

There are a couple of hoppy and fruity Saisons in my brew day thread if you want a couple more options Clint. I've not tried the one yet as only brewed it on 29th, but the Mosaic one was absolutely delicious! There's also a recipe for a braggot in there, fermented with Saison yeast, if you want something with more kick. lol

Saisons are good fun to brew, and a really handy way of using up left over hops. :thumb: They're pretty much our "house style" at this point.