Saison de Brew

Mash at 150 deg F for 1 hour.

4 lb belgian pilsner
1 lb Rahr White wheat malt
1 lb German Vienna
8 oz belgian biscuit
4 oz Carapils
4 oz Crystal 40L


1 oz styrian goldings (45 min)
1 oz saaz (5 min)

Bottle Condition at least 3 weeks.

Sounds tasty!

What yeast and fermentation schedule did you use?

Did you under pitch for more ester production?

Thanks Pratzie!

Netsegeek, good question. I should have provided more detail in the recipe. I used Wyeast 3711 and pitched just one smack pack into the 3 gallon batch. I fermented in a primary 24 days. There was no secondary.

I used my new temperature controller/heater to slowly ramp up the fermentation temp to get some ester production without going overboard. Here's what I did: 1 day each at 68, 69, 70, and 71. Hold beer at 72 for the rest of fermentation.

I bottle-conditioned for 3 weeks before tasting. Flavor was good at that point, but still a little undercarbonated. After 4-5 weeks the carbination was much better.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for the detail; it definitely helps. I'm formulating my first Saison recipe and looking at what everyone else is doing. The process is much more important with this style.

I like your fermentation ramp. I think starting at 68 will help to reduce any hot alcohol flavors. I'm kinda surprised the 3711 only attenuated 75% for you though. From what I've read, people say it's a beast. I haven't used it yet, but that's what I'm going to use. I was going to stop at 72 also, but I may go a bit higher to ensure the beer dries out.

netsecgeek said:

I'm kinda surprised the 3711 only attenuated 75% for you though. From what I've read, people say it's a beast. I haven't used it yet, but that's what I'm going to use. I was going to stop at 72 also, but I may go a bit higher to ensure the beer dries out.

Click to expand...

The 75% is just what the calculator from Tasty Brew assumed. Sorry, I did not have the true value so left it at 75%. I would assume it did attenuate more, but don't have data to support.

The results were good, so that was good enough for me. I think I will brew this again, and I will verify attenuation.