Winter Hoppy Saison Recipe critique

I think you'll be much happier without the spices.

 

I did not get a lot of noticeable flavor from sweet orange peel, although I think it would fit with your beer quite well. I want to say I used one ounce of fresh orange peel, but I'm not sure (it's whatever weight the common packages are sold in, I used one package).

I don't know how "heavy for the winter" a 1.059 OG beer is going to be, but I have no doubt this will be dry, given the sugar addition and 3711 yeast.

The wheat might add something body wise. Head retention wise I used 3711 with straight 2-row and had great head and lacing.

Also, while I think your hops choices are fantastic, will it really be "hoppy?" Not that I think you need to change a thing on the hops.

Other than that, I like where you're going with this idea.

 

I agree with drewbage. Any time I am trying to accentuate hops, I keep my beer simple. I just did a hoppy fall saison that looks like this...
8lbs Belgian pils
2lbs dark munich
2lbs red wheat
1lb flaked oats
.5oz Chinook @60
.5oz Chinook @10
1oz saaz @10
1 oz saaz @0
1oz citra dh
1oz Chinook dh
og 1.061
ibus @ 50
fermented with wlp 670.
She came out pretty bitter, thanks to the dryness from the brett, but the brett compliments the fruity aspects of the hops I used as well. Not a lot of pine, tons of tropical fruit with a dry, bitter finish that doesn't linger too much. It's a nice color as well. I think if I had used any spices or citrus it would have muddled the flavors I have.

 

My guess is you might never have brewed with WYeast 3711 before. My experience with it was approximately OG 1.060 and FG 1.000. It is a highly attenuative yeast strain. You might want to revise your FG and ABV expectations, and/or (perhaps) your use of simple sugars in the beer. I've only used it one time myself, but virtually everyone who has posted about it has reported a lower than expected final gravity.

 

i have used fresh lemongrass (along with some fresh sage leaves) soaked in vodka as a dry hop addition along with hops and loved what it did to the beer. bright and punchy. a friend recently did a saison with dried lemongrass added at the end of boil, and i don't know if it was more the timing or that it was dried, but it didn't really add much.

i'd also consider dry-hopping with another oz of something too for some extra pop.

 

I did an Amarillo saison that came out fantastic, the light citrus and floral aspects really played well with the yeast (WY 3522). I'd also recommend a good dry hop with the Amarillo, 2 oz will give you tons of great aroma.

 

as long as you give it a good soak in a neutral spirit like vodka you should be fine.

 

Oooohh. I love dark saisons. Just bottled one myself.

In general, I'd decrease the amount of munich . . . you want dry and fruity not malty. Also a dark grain to accentuate the dark candi syrup.

Maybe:

Pils 70%
Wheat 10%
Munich 10%
Special B 5%
Candi syrup 5%

Also the spices . . . WAY too much. Maybe just one? I always like black cardamom in dark saisons (just use a little bit . . .~ 0.5 gms per 5-6 gallons).

Things to consider: addition of fruit (dried something or other), upping OG, souring or Brett?

Dark saisons rock. I've been drinking a dark spiced (black cardamom) fruited (dried currants & kumquats) sour (bottle dregs) saison lately.

 

I wouldn't worry about soaking in vodka or anything. If you're using 3711, it's likely going to get down to near 1.000, so there isn't going to be much left to get at.

 

First use for me was expected OG 1.010 (a pipe dream, in retrospect), and actual FG upon bottling of 1.006. 1.006 may have been quite the wrong actual FG tho, it may have actually been even lower. To be honest, I didn't check it twice over three days, I merely checked it at bottling and saw 1.006 and went with it. The beer was highly carbonated, with enormous head and massively sticky lacing, despite having only 2-row as the malt bill. Now I know 3711 is a beast, and saisons are noted for high carbonation, but I concede the possibility with this beer that it may have still had a point or two left to attenuate when I bottled it, and may thus have been over-carbed, even for a saison.

The big caveat here is that the beer was so delicious that it didn't last long enough to make bottle bombs.