A Note on Saisons

When I troll Beeradvocate.com’s homebrewing forums, I see the same topics repeatedly. The ones closest to my heart are Saisons. I first encountered the style around 1997 at my local brewpub, and I’ve been deeply obsessed ever since. There isn’t nearly enough space in this column for all my thoughts on the style, but hopefully these notes on my brewing process will help make those notorious yeast strains work for you.

Wyeast 3711 French Saison is easy to use, but skipping Wyeast Belgian Saison and White Labs Saison means missing out on the classic aroma and flavor. Here’s how I avoid the Great Saison Stallout:

• Use a ton of yeast. Even my table-strength Saison uses a half-gallon starter. When I make a super Saison, I make a table Saison first and harvest the yeast cake.
• Start cold. I chill my wort via a counter-flow chiller (CFC) that feeds into an immersion chiller (IC) sitting in an ice bath to reach a starting temperature of 63°–65°F. This works even with hot summer water.
• No airlocks. Saison strains are pressure sensitive. Use sanitized foil during the primary.
• Let it ride. The fermentor sits in a water bath with leftover ice and stays cool for the first few days. After that, I just keep it from getting into 90-degree temperatures.
• By starting low, we can get past the early ferment stage with minimal fusel production, and then let the yeast really rip for tackling the sugar. I do a number of Saisons every year with this process, and it works like a charm.

SAISON TROPICALE
This is a really versatile recipe. Here, I’m using Citra for a little fun, but replace it with Saaz and you’re making a classic. Skip the final hops altogether, and you have a great platform for building a tower of flavor whimsy.

For 6 gallons at 1.058 OG, 4 SRM, 51 IBU, 6.7% ABV

Malt / Sugar / Grain
7.0 lb. Pilsner malt
5.0 lb. wheat malt
0.5 lb. Munich malt
0.75 lb. sugar

Mash
Mash for 60 minutes at 148°F.

Hops
1.0 oz Magnum (pellets) | 12.0% AA | 90 minutes
2.0 oz Citra (pellets) | 11.0% AA | 5 minutes

Yeast
WLP565 Belgian Saison I ■