Dandelion Saison - First Attempt

[danthebugman]

The crop of dandelions that's come up in my yard reminded me of my notion to try making a Dandelion Saison. Mother Nature has done her best to stifle me though as it's gone from 78 degrees Saturday to snowing this morning so we'll see what happens when it warms back up...freakin' Missouri weather . At any rate, I've been playing with some numbers and wanted to get some feedback on my recipe before purchasing ingredients:

Batch Size: 3 gallon
OG: 1.055
FG: 1.011
IBU: 27.73
SRM: 3.98

4 lbs 2-Row
1 lbs White Wheat
4 oz Vienna
4 oz Flake Oat
8 oz Honey (either Orange Blossom, Wildflower, or whatever I can get) @ Flame Out

0.25 oz Columbus @ FWH
0.25 oz Willamette @ 30 min, 15 min, and 5 min

I was thinking of making a Dandelion tea the night before or possibly a few days before brewing. Then adding that to the boil at around the 5 minute mark. Not sure exactly how much to use. I made a test batch of Dandelion tea on Friday and used 10 petals with about 15 oz of water which resulted in a decent flavor contribution. Might want a little more out of it though. Any suggestions on this?

Oh and I'm going to use the Belle Saison dry yeast.

 

[beergolf]

Here is a recipe from the database.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f71/dandelion-saison-307356/

I have not brewed it but did look at it last year. Maybe it can help you.

 

[danthebugman]

Yep, that's the recipe that sparked my desire to give it a go this spring. Thanks for linking it :rockin:. I'm thinking the Dandelion tea might give more flavor to the beer than just an addition of dried (like in the above, linked recipe) or fresh Dandelions to the boil.

 

[fearwig]

If you're making a tea, why boil it at all? More importantly, why let the yeast gas all the aroma off? Put that in after main fermentation (or secondary, if you swing that way). I see in that thread people note a very mild floral aroma.

Or you could do the same with the petals. I think you could add them to hot (170F+) water and chill quickly to eliminate pretty much any contamination risk while preserving the goodies.

Belle saison is a beast, it should be nice and dry. I say keep your IBUs at or below 25, given the herbals.

 

[danthebugman]

Thanks, that's a good point with the tea. I may just add it after primary is done.