Wild Saison

[brewdude253]

I rigged up a friend's saison recipe a couple of weeks ago. I left some of it out in a mason jar to wild ferment and see what's living in my house. It's pretty good (and quite sour) so I'm going to rig up two starters (one of the saison slurry and one of the wild slurry) to use on this batch of beer.

Just tossed this recipe together. Going to the store in a few days. Would love some feedback as this is one of the first few recipes I've put together myself. Thinking about adding some honey or candi syrup. Thoughts?


Wild Saison I

OG 1.070
batch size 5 gal

Mash @ 152 F
flaked oats .8lb
wheat malt 5lb
2 row 5.25 lb
crystal 10L 2.2 lb

Boil
.5oz hallertau 60 min
.5 oz hallertau 5 min
.5 oz coriander 5 min
.5 oz orange peel 5 min
.25 oz chamomile 5 min

Yeast
WLP565 - Saison (4 gallons of wort)
Wild Yeast (1 gallon of wort)

Will be blending the two batches at secondary prior to kegging.

 

[othevad]

Hey Brew,

Sounds like a good experimentation to try. On the recipe side, my only suggestion is to back the Crystal wayyyyyyy down. Even though it's only 10 L so it won't get crazy dark, it looks like (without doing the math) that the C is about 20% of the recipe which is a lot.
The only other suggestion would be to make more of the wild. If it's actually halfway decent, it would suck to go through the trouble of making it and aging it and only be able to pour off less than 10 beers to try. You are going to most likely want to do some sampling as it ages which will make that gallon dwindle in a hurry.

be good, good luck

 

[benflath]

+1 to everything othevad said. Maybe replace the crystal with munich in all or in part if you want the color.

And let us know how it goes!

 

[brewdude253]

Brewed it a few days ago. Final recipe...

6.25 gal preboil
5.25 gal after boil
1.070 OG

5.75 lb 2 row
5.5 lb white wheat
1.25 lb Munich
.75 lb flaked oats

.5 oz Hallertauer 60min
.5 oz Hallertauer 20 min
.5 oz coriander 5 min
.5 oz fresh orange zest 5 min
.25 oz chamomile 5 min

Pitched 4 gallons with WL566 Saison II
Pitched 1.25 gallons with the wild strain from my house. Fermentation should finish up in a 5-6 more days. Ill rack them both into the same fermenter and let it hang out for a few weeks. They both smell great right now.

Thanks for all the input!

 

[brewdude253]

Kegged yesterday. Tastes fantastic. Starts sweet and the spices really come out. Finishes slightly tart. Next time ill rig up more with the sour to give it a little more bite. Thanks for all the advice.