Educate me on brewing a saison
#1
Posted 10 June 2010 - 09:47 AM
#2
Posted 10 June 2010 - 09:54 AM
#3
Posted 10 June 2010 - 10:20 AM
#4
Posted 10 June 2010 - 10:22 AM
#5
Posted 10 June 2010 - 10:33 AM
#6
Posted 10 June 2010 - 01:17 PM
All the Saison yeasts that I know of (WY3724 / WL565 / WL566) come from the DuPont brewery and are based on the same original strain. I've only used WY3724 and WL565, I've never used the new Saison II strain from White Labs, but they list that yeast as coming from teh same brewery as the other two. In my experience, this yeast doesn't poop out early. It slows down early, but then it keeps chugging and chugging seemingly forever. You might get down to a light film of foam on the beer and an airlock bubble every 20 seconds, and it will stay that way for two weeks. That's normal. I usually ferment it at 85 degrees. Don't worry about fusels with DuPont yeast, it doesn't throw off fusels as far as I can tell, and is actually a little bland when fermented in the 70s.I've never made a belgian beer. I've been brewing for about 5 years now, but haven't really enjoyed belgians that much until recently, and even now it's mainly sours and saisons. With summer approaching, I'd like to try my hand at this style, but have some concerns given the fermentation regiment (which is why I'm wanting to brew them in the heat of summer), yeast and grain bills. I've heard and read some saison yeasts want to poop out early and leave the beer with a lot of residual sugars. Is there any specific yeast that does this or is it a rule over most all saison yeasts? Should I pitch around 70 F since I want to ramp the temp up but avoid fusels? If you would please, give me a quick run down of your preferences and procedures as this is a far cry from my usual brewing practices and techniques.
#7
Posted 10 June 2010 - 01:26 PM
Great information, thank you.All the Saison yeasts that I know of (WY3724 / WL565 / WL566) come from the DuPont brewery and are based on the same original strain. I've only used WY3724 and WL565, I've never used the new Saison II strain from White Labs, but they list that yeast as coming from teh same brewery as the other two. In my experience, this yeast doesn't poop out early. It slows down early, but then it keeps chugging and chugging seemingly forever. You might get down to a light film of foam on the beer and an airlock bubble every 20 seconds, and it will stay that way for two weeks. That's normal. I usually ferment it at 85 degrees. Don't worry about fusels with DuPont yeast, it doesn't throw off fusels as far as I can tell, and is actually a little bland when fermented in the 70s.
#8
Posted 10 June 2010 - 02:45 PM
#9
Posted 10 June 2010 - 02:49 PM
#10
Posted 10 June 2010 - 03:20 PM
#11
Posted 10 June 2010 - 03:28 PM
#12
Posted 10 June 2010 - 04:04 PM
...That...Sounds...Awesome!!!Do you also use dark grain to get color, or does it all come from the darkened cherries?One unusual step in that one involves the use of dried cherries. You brown them in a pan (no oil of course) and add them to the boil. There is also some star anise late in the boil that works really well with the cherries.
#13
Posted 10 June 2010 - 04:07 PM
No there's some dark grain but I don't remember exactly what. I'm sure there's some Special B but aside from that I just don't recall what it was....That...Sounds...Awesome!!!Do you also use dark grain to get color, or does it all come from the darkened cherries?
#14
Posted 10 June 2010 - 05:08 PM
Dried cherries and star anise? You've got my attention I'd be interested in that recipe, for sureIf you guys are interested in a dark saison, I have a great recipe. I posted it on Teh Verde long ago but it might not still be around. Who knows... Anyway, if anyone's interested, I'll try to remember to post it tonight. One unusual step in that one involves the use of dried cherries. You brown them in a pan (no oil of course) and add them to the boil. There is also some star anise late in the boil that works really well with the cherries.
#16
Posted 11 June 2010 - 05:47 AM
#17
Posted 11 June 2010 - 10:38 AM
Thanks for this one. I see you've got the cherries going in to the boil at 15 minutes. Ever consider adding them to the secondary? Or possible add them and the honey to the primary after a few days? I've not used dried fruit before, only fresh and purees... is boiling required for flavor extraction or would it scrub some flavor out?
#18
Posted 11 June 2010 - 12:48 PM
I think some sour cherries added to secondary would be great. I've never tried that with this beer but you should feel free to give it a shot. Like I said, experimentation is the name of the game with saisons. I think the boiling helps extract some of the flavor but also keeps it fairly subtle. The thing about this beer is that all the flavors are low key. If any one of them stood out, it would upset the balance somewhat. You have the cherries, dried fruit from the Special B, star anise, honey, spicy yeast and hops all just above the flavor threshold. There's a sort of complex interplay between all these flavors and I think that's what makes this particular beer so good.Thanks for this one. I see you've got the cherries going in to the boil at 15 minutes. Ever consider adding them to the secondary? Or possible add them and the honey to the primary after a few days? I've not used dried fruit before, only fresh and purees... is boiling required for flavor extraction or would it scrub some flavor out?
#19
Posted 12 June 2010 - 03:50 AM
This, this, this! Well I cant attest to 3 mo, but give it plenty of time. Especially if you use the white labs yeast. It will do its thing, but it needs time. It will go gang busters and then look like it has stopped. Dont rack it at that point like I did. haTime, time, time...3 months minimum!
#20
Posted 12 June 2010 - 09:43 AM
Nice Recipe Mtn!! I might have to give this one a try. I brewed a Saison years ago but would like to get some additional summer brews going too. Thanks for sharing. Cheers!!
0 user(s) are reading this topic
0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users