Saison with abbey ale yeast?

[cherbhy]

Hello all,

I just brewed a saison inspired by tank 7. I loosely followed the clone recipe in the database. I used 10.5lbs Belgian pale, 2 lbs flaked corn, a couple pounds wheat malt, a half pound white wheat, and a half pound Vienna. I decided to go with wlp530 on a whim, mainly because I read somewhere that boulevard brewing uses an abbey and Trappist yeasts blend for theirs. My og was 1.074, and the abbey yeast has been ripping through it.

My question is this: will it still taste like a saison? Should I rack to secondary and spice it a bit?




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[Schemy]

What temp did you mash at? What temp are you fermenting at?

 

[cherbhy]

Mashed at 152.
Fermenter is currently at 70 but ramped up to about 75 / 76 during peak. I have no means of temp control.


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[Schemy]

IMO you are going to be too sweet in the end for a Saison. I would normally mash around 148 to promote fermentability, creating that dry saison finish. That said, you should be getting a good profile from the yeast at that temp on the ferment.

I wouldn't spice it, you want yeast driven spice, not added spice. Let it get down as far as you can, and taste it when you rack to secondary.

You might add a Brett strain if you are comfortable with that, and let it age for a while. That would bring the gravity down further, and give you that funky farmhouse character some saisons have.

Hope that helps.

 

[cherbhy]

IMO you are going to be too sweet in the end for a Saison. I would normally mash around 148 to promote fermentability, creating that dry saison finish. That said, you should be getting a good profile from the yeast at that temp on the ferment.



I wouldn't spice it, you want yeast driven spice, not added spice. Let it get down as far as you can, and taste it when you rack to secondary.



You might add a Brett strain if you are comfortable with that, and let it age for a while. That would bring the gravity down further, and give you that funky farmhouse character some saisons have.



Hope that helps.

Thank you so much for your response. I'm open to pitching Brett.

I have let it ferment for 19 days and just took a sample. That abbey ale yeast ripped through it even with my above optimal mash temp. It's currently at 1.010, therefore the ABV is about 8.3%. It appears cloudy, without the orangish hint some saisons have. Lighter than average. It tastes very good, with no hot alcohol or solvent type flavors, however there is not as much pepperiness as I would like. Some fruit esters, not characteristically orange or lemon, more similar to hefeweizen. Hop bitterness is present but not assertive.

What do you think? Should I carb it up and see how it turns out? Or pitch some Brett in secondary and let it dry out more? I'm on the fence.


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[Twinkeelfool]

Saison yeast is the key to saison

 

[philw86]

I've had awesome luck with a range of styles from WLP530. Saison is a fairly wide category, unless you're brewing to compete.

I usually keep my saison simple...pale base (70-90%), wheat/rye/etc (10-20%), SnickAsaurusRex's clear Candi Syrup (5-15%, maybe 3-4 days into primary). Start ferm temps low, and ramp it a degree or two per day.

My two cents...:cross:

 

[kingwood-kid]

If you want citrus and pepper, you could add any combination of coriander, orange peel, grains of paradise, pepper & west coast hops. Slightly assertive carbonation should help with the perceived dryness as well. If you like how it tastes, I'd skip the brett, or just add it to a gallon or so.

 

[The10mmKid]

Would it be prudent to give it another 3-5 days and see if the 1.010 drops a bit more?

As to the Brett, it's my understanding that you'll be waiting months for it to finish out.


'da Kid

 

[cherbhy]

If you want citrus and pepper, you could add any combination of coriander, orange peel, grains of paradise, pepper & west coast hops. Slightly assertive carbonation should help with the perceived dryness as well. If you like how it tastes, I'd skip the brett, or just add it to a gallon or so.

Thanks for the reply. Since this is my first time brewing the recipe, id like to see what flavors the yeast/hops imbue themselves before I start making additions. I will definitely keep in Mind the additions you mentioned, they sound delicious.

Also, I will be assertive with carbonation.

-C



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[cherbhy]

Would it be prudent to give it another 3-5 days and see if the 1.010 drops a bit more?



As to the Brett, it's my understanding that you'll be waiting months for it to finish out.





'da Kid

Great advice. I waited a couple days and took another reading, the OG remains the same. I don't mind waiting 6 months or however long is needed if it will improve my beer. I've never used Brett before.. Maybe I can just siphon off a gallon as an earlier poster suggested and use that for Brett, while kegging the remainder of my beer.

I tried it again today and the flavor was more or less the same. I'm reluctant to transfer to secondary unless spicing or some other type of aging seems necessary.

Thoughts?


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