First saison

[sandyeggoxj]

I want to brew a saison. Here is what I am thinking. I would love feedback. I am looking for lower abv, clean and dry. A lighter saison. I had Green Flash Saison Diego and thought it was incredible. I also really liked Epic's Green apple saison. Those are pretty different but indicate my palate. There are some saisons that are wayyy too belgian for me.

11 Gallon Batch, Pre-boil 12.45, 75% Total Efficiency
OG 1.050
EST FG 1.012 (but probably lower)
21.9 IBU
3.6 SRM

Grain:
18# Belg Pils
2# White wheat

Hops:
2 oz Mt Hood(4.9%) @ 60 [17.2IBU]
2 oz Santiam(6.6%) @ 5 [4.6IBU]

Yeast:
WLP565 w/stirred starter

Pitch @ 70*f and ramp to 80+

Keg and Force Carb

I am also doing a 90 minute boil since it has some pils in it. Depending how it turns out I will adjust ABV. Probably down, but we will see. I am guessing that with good yeast health and warm temps I'll do better than 1.012. Also, I chose those hops because I have a pound of each and the rest of what I have is more along the West Coast IPA vain. The image below will show you what I have to work with for hops. When I input the last shipment I adjusted the AA to reflect what I have.

 

[zendog]

Looks like a nice recipe. I've used 565 a few times (coincidentally I'm brewing with it today) and it rocks with earthy, peppery notes. Some have issues with it stalling, but in my experience doing a step mash will encourage fermentability. I mash for 90 minutes at 144, then step to 151 for another 60 minutes. I pitch a 1000ml starter at 70F. Allow it to ramp up on its own; once the temp maxes out, heat it to 80F until FG. Both times I've done this, it was at ~1007 in 7 days. I like to DH my saisons; about 1 oz is enough.

Cheers!

 

[sandyeggoxj]

Should I aerate with o2 like normal or reduce aeration to stress the yeast and get those off flavors that go with the style?

 

[zendog]

I aerate with o2 no matter what I'm brewing. Brewed my saison yesterday and hit it with 2 min. worth (OG was 1062). The 565 is rockin away and up to 74F, smelling of spicey goodness!

 

[sandyeggoxj]

I brewed this today. I hit 1.052, which is a little over 75% total efficiency. No water adjustments. Just tap through a charcoal filter.

I also bought some kumquats. I am going to split the batch and put half on kumquats. Each carboy got a 2L starter worth of yeast. 3 min @ .5lpm on pure o2. Pitched around 72 degrees and going to let it rise freely in the closet.

Fermentation chamber will be getting a fresh batch of West Coast IPA tomorrow. Big weekend here! Should be about 20 gallons into fermenters!

 

[sandyeggoxj]

I decided not to put anything on the kumquats. I might do that in the future.

I just pulled the first pint from the keg. Wow. This beer turned out fantastic! It finished at 1.009. It could probably go lower with some coaxing, but this tastes great now. No need to change it. I brewed another 10 gallons of it yesterday and racked it right onto the previous yeast cake. I'm planning to take a few kegs to my August wedding. This should be a great beer for that.