Best hops for a saison

[wyobrewer1]

I'm doing my first saison this weekend and I'm trying to figure out what hops to use. The one good recipe I found uses Fuggles which I don't really like. I'd like to stay away from the American hops as well for this one. Thanks for the help!

 

[Malty_Dog]

I'm sure a lot more experienced folks can chime in, but I remember either Mosher or Zainasheff saying noble hops work well, something like Saaz. Nice and clean, not too in your face.

 

[TopherM]

The idea with a saison is you want the funky saison yeast esters to be an upfront flavor in your brew, so you want to use hops that do not overpower the saison yeast funk. Noble hops or neutral hops/low AA hops are all good ideas.

 

[Bklmt2000]

In the saisons I've brewed over the years, I've found that noble hops, such as Hallertau and Sterling (sub for Saaz) work quite well.

I've also used East Kent Goldings numerous times, which also worked well.

A couple suggestions: keep the hop character (bittering/flavor/aroma) restrained, as too much hop character can take away from the saison-y character of the yeast.

For example, for a saison with an OG of ~1.060, I would keep the total IBU's in the neighborhood of ~30 IBU's total, with ~20 IBU's from the bittering charge and the balance from any flavor/aroma additions you care to make.

Just my 2 cents, please ignore if you wish.

Bklmt2000

 

[beergolf]

I use mostly noble hops. Styrian, Hallertau, Saaz are all good choices.

French Strisslspalter is great.

I have a few nice Saisons with Sorachi Ace or Nelson Sauvin.

Shoot for a BU:GU ratio of about .5. 2/3 of that at 60 and the rest at 20-30 minuts.

Bklmt is right. The hops do not play a big role in a Saison. The yeast is thenmain flavor you want, so you do not want to overpower it with too many hops.

 

[JoppaFarms]

My latest Saison used:

0.5 oz Sorachi Ace 60m
0.5 oz UK East Kent 30m
0.5 oz UK East Kent 30m
1.0 oz Mittelfruh Flameout

At a 1.061 it came out to about 23 IBU according to BrewersFriend

Smells AWESOME after using 3711 and letting it free rise to 77-78 degrees. Can't wait to bottle!

 

[bnmir]

I think some of the NZ hops work well for flavor/aroma. Motueka, Pac Jade, Pac Gem

 

[ICWiener]

My experiences with Pacifc Gem have been good, but they seem to be very strong, and are usually in the 15% AA range. I think they would overpower a saison very quickly.

 

[TNGabe]

I like saisons with fruitier yeasts and fruity hops quite a bit as well as the more traditional peppery/herbal combo. Fresh DuPont is much hoppier than it is by the time you find it most places in the US.

As others have said, stick with nobles or try more modern descendants. I've been happy with crystal and willamette. Most all of the low/mid alpha NZ stuff that has noble parent has been good to my tastes, too.

 

[bnmir]

I used about 1oz in 10g, at flameout, and it was noticeable to moderate after kegging.

 

[wyobrewer1]

Awesome thanks for the help everyone

 

[TANSTAAFB]

Saaz, Styrian Golding, Hallertau, or any noble hops are the typical go to. I tend to take the very Belgian approach of doing as I damn well please! Hence my latest Super Saison used Warrior for bittering as a first wort hop addition and Cascade and Amarillo for flavor and aroma, all in the whirlpool. I wanted smooth but evident bitterness and a ton of hop aroma. Hit about 50 IBU. I split the batch between Dupont and Brett yeasts and just sampled today. While hoppy the yeast is still dominant with the brett a little more tart.

 

[meltroha]

I actually like amarillo for flavoring in beers like this, adds a little something interesting you don't taste every day.

 

[MrOH]

If you're going for a DuPont clone, use EKG and Styrian Goldings. Otherwise, use what you want in the way that you think will work. I've used the following hops in saisons in the past: amarillo, centennial, citra, saphir, pacific jade, pacific gem, pacifica, motueka, bobek, crystal, sovereign, east kent goldings, willamette, and belma. They've all worked out. Saisons are a pretty forgiving style, provided you remember that the yeast is the star of the show and the malt, hops, and spices (if you choose to use them) are supporting cast.

 

[TANSTAAFB]

I use mostly noble hops. Styrian, Hallertau, Saaz are all good choices.

French Strisslspalter is great.

I have a few nice Saisons with Sorachi Ace or Nelson Sauvin.

Shoot for a BU:GU ratio of about .5. 2/3 of that at 60 and the rest at 20-30 minuts.

Bklmt is right. The hops do not play a big role in a Saison. The yeast is thenmain flavor you want, so you do not want to overpower it with too many hops.

I think some of the NZ hops work well for flavor/aroma. Motueka, Pac Jade, Pac Gem

I like saisons with fruitier yeasts and fruity hops quite a bit as well as the more traditional peppery/herbal combo. Fresh DuPont is much hoppier than it is by the time you find it most places in the US.

As others have said, stick with nobles or try more modern descendants. I've been happy with crystal and willamette. Most all of the low/mid alpha NZ stuff that has noble parent has been good to my tastes, too.

If you're going for a DuPont clone, use EKG and Styrian Goldings. Otherwise, use what you want in the way that you think will work. I've used the following hops in saisons in the past: amarillo, centennial, citra, saphir, pacific jade, pacific gem, pacifica, motueka, bobek, crystal, sovereign, east kent goldings, willamette, and belma. They've all worked out. Saisons are a pretty forgiving style, provided you remember that the yeast is the star of the show and the malt, hops, and spices (if you choose to use them) are supporting cast.

I love Nelson Sauvin and I love Saisons but I haven't used many of the other NZ hop varieties. For those of you who have brewed this style with these hops, what kind of results/ flavors did you get and what did you think of the beers?

 

[JKaranka]

I used EKG and Liberty. I thought that a bittering addition of EKG and then a late addition of Liberty mixed quite well, with the Liberty giving sort of a fresh, green, beery flavour to the result.

 

[eulipion2]

I have a Belma/Strisselspalt session saison with Wyeast 3711 that is fantastic! The Belma gives a melon/berry flavor that plays nicely with the yeast.

 

[phenry]

If you're going for a DuPont clone, use EKG and Styrian Goldings. Otherwise, use what you want in the way that you think will work. I've used the following hops in saisons in the past: amarillo, centennial, citra, saphir, pacific jade, pacific gem, pacifica, motueka, bobek, crystal, sovereign, east kent goldings, willamette, and belma. They've all worked out. Saisons are a pretty forgiving style, provided you remember that the yeast is the star of the show and the malt, hops, and spices (if you choose to use them) are supporting cast.

To resonate this, just about any hops can work in a Saison. But sadly, there's a lot of people who think that DuPont's Vielle Provision is the pinnacle of Saisons. While it is an awesome Saison, there's a LOT of room to play in this style. One of my favorite Saisons I've brewed had a hopping schedule of:

0.5 oz Bravo - 60 min
0.25 oz Simcoe - 15 min
0.5 oz Cascade - 0 min
0.5 oz Cascade - Dry hop

It actually went on to take 2nd place at a homebrew competition. The hops were noticeable, but definitely not overwhelming the character of the yeast. I try to mix it up between the noble and American hops when I brew Saisons now.

 

[Krovitz]

To resonate this, just about any hops can work in a Saison. But sadly, there's a lot of people who think that DuPont's Vielle Provision is the pinnacle of Saisons. While it is an awesome Saison, there's a LOT of room to play in this style. One of my favorite Saisons I've brewed had a hopping schedule of:

0.5 oz Bravo - 60 min
0.25 oz Simcoe - 15 min
0.5 oz Cascade - 0 min
0.5 oz Cascade - Dry hop

It actually went on to take 2nd place at a homebrew competition. The hops were noticeable, but definitely not overwhelming the character of the yeast. I try to mix it up between the noble and American hops when I brew Saisons now.

I was just thinking of using some bravo for a saison. What do you think of a little mosaic for late additions?

Also, to the OP, have you ever tried Jack D'or? I think it is an excellent beer but not technically a traditional saison. They call it a saison americain. They use nugget, styrian, Columbus and palisade. Here's a link.
http://www.prettythingsbeertoday.com/wp/our-beers/jack-dor/

 

[phenry]

I was just thinking of using some bravo for a saison. What do you think of a little mosaic for late additions?

Also, to the OP, have you ever tried Jack D'or? I think it is an excellent beer but not technically a traditional saison. They call it a saison americain. They use nugget, styrian, Columbus and palisade. Here's a link.
http://www.prettythingsbeertoday.com/wp/our-beers/jack-dor/

Can't say, I've never used Mosaic, but from what I hear it's supposedly fruity/citrusy mixed with earthy. So basically perfect for a Saison in restrained amounts I would imagine. And I just used Bravo as a neutral bittering addition, I can't honestly say I've ever used it for anything else.

 

[wyobrewer1]

We ended up using mt hood to bitter and then late additions of willamette and crystal. The sample we tasted had a really smooth bitterness to it. Hoping 3711 will add some awesome flavors to it.

 

[wyobrewer1]

I was just thinking of using some bravo for a saison. What do you think of a little mosaic for late additions?

Also, to the OP, have you ever tried Jack D'or? I think it is an excellent beer but not technically a traditional saison. They call it a saison americain. They use nugget, styrian, Columbus and palisade. Here's a link.
http://www.prettythingsbeertoday.com/wp/our-beers/jack-dor/

Never tried it. Actually had my first saison today while brewing our saison. Colette from great divide. Suttle spicy up front, lasting fruitiness on the back end and a definite funk to the smell. Somehow that all creates a delicious brew. Hope ours turns out similarly.

 

[TANSTAAFB]

Never tried it. Actually had my first saison today while brewing our saison. Colette from great divide. Suttle spicy up front, lasting fruitiness on the back end and a definite funk to the smell. Somehow that all creates a delicious brew. Hope ours turns out similarly.

Colette is not a bad brew but it is a long way from being a great example of a Saison. See if you can find a Funkwerks Saison for a really nice, fresh example. Brasserie Dupont's stuff is considered the exemplar of the style and is available here but I feel like once it makes its journey it is a little worse for wear and the local stuff is better. Boulevard makes a good example that is widely available as well. Do you have a decent bottle shop around? I live in BFE southern Colorado so I don't! But there are some awesome breweries around that make some damn fine Saisons. Anybody else have any suggestions for other readily available commercial examples?

 

[wyobrewer1]

Colette is not a bad brew but it is a long way from being a great example of a Saison. See if you can find a Funkwerks Saison for a really nice, fresh example. Brasserie Dupont's stuff is considered the exemplar of the style and is available here but I feel like once it makes its journey it is a little worse for wear and the local stuff is better. Boulevard makes a good example that is widely available as well. Do you have a decent bottle shop around? I live in BFE southern Colorado so I don't! But there are some awesome breweries around that make some damn fine Saisons. Anybody else have any suggestions for other readily available commercial examples?

I'm in Casper, WY so we don't have a great selection. I'd say average, but its starting to improve. However, no good examples of saisons. The only CO breweries I can get are Odell, New Belgium and Oskar Blues.

 

[kingwood-kid]

For me, Dupont's not that great to drink, but it's worth buying just to harvest the yeast. I've made nice saisons with saaz, motueka, centennial/nugget, sorachi/sterling, nugget, and thyme/orval dregs. I think almost any hops you like will work, so long as you are restrained, to the point that you could use just bittering hops and let the yeast do pretty much all the talking. But it's a pretty wide-open style; if you want to make your saison dark, sour, fruited or hoppy, that could be good too.

 

[TANSTAAFB]

I'm in Casper, WY so we don't have a great selection. I'd say average, but its starting to improve. However, no good examples of saisons. The only CO breweries I can get are Odell, New Belgium and Oskar Blues.

Those are three damn good ones! Odell makes a saison called Celastrina-I haven't had it yet but I bet it is excellent. New Belgium has Saison du Poivre as well as several other saisons or farmhouse ales over the years. Some are pretty straightforward and some are more experimental like the Lips of Faith prickly pear Saison. Oskar apparently did a tap release only Sandy Saison to raise funds for hurricane Sandy victims...I wish they'd make that a regular brew! I don't think I've ever tried an OB beer I didn't like!

 

[stealthfixr]

Dredging up and old thread to add a somewhat new thought: what about the new Noble hops? I recently got some Noble Loral in a random pull and wondering how it and other “new” noble hops (Cascade, etc) would do in a Saison.