Averagely Perfect Saison - Poll #7 - ABV Runoff

5.7. Going with the happy medium on this one.

 

But the distribution is a bit bi-modal - - - okay, I'll go out on a limb and say this is multi-modal, such is the nature of off-centered voters.

Of Interest: Take a look at the top 100 rated Saisons on BA: The average ABV of these best Saisons is 6.86%, that's out of 97 great brews (Hill Farmstead doesn't publish ABV on three of the list). A smart moderator once said "it might be folly to ignore the mean" . . . well the mean here is well above everything being considered. Only 13 out of 97 of the best Saisons were below 5.7%.

Practical Implications: With the yeast selected we can expect an attenuation at least in the low 90s. We all know the FG is going to be pretty damn low (think 1.002'ish) . . . with a low ABV this combination will dictate a really low OG. Could be painting ourselves in a corner with the constraints of a 5% beer. A grain bill to make this work may be testing the limits (lower) of our brew equipment.

Easy Solution: Boost the ABV. I'll vote for 6.1%, but something in the high 6's will be more likely to put this recipe in the league of the Averagely Perfect. Ethanol . . . it's our friend.

 

Sticking with 5%, but I am open to 5.7 if someone can make a convincing argument that I should switch.

 

I voted for 5.5% previously, so I'm going with the closest choice to that.

 

I like the challenge of brewing a low gravity saisons (well, low gravity beers in general) so I'm sticking with 5.0%. However, I won't be upset with any of these choices really. Another reason I want to keep the grain bill low personally is that im thinking about making 15 gallons of this stuff: one straight DuPont dregs, one co-pitch with WLP 644 & one with something else depending on where the recipe goes, perhaps Drie Fonteinen dregs.

 

I voted 5.7% as that is the number I had in the first poll as well. 5.0% would likely be my next option if needed. I have found that keeping my abv on the lower end for my saisons has worked very well.

 

Went with 6.1 as that's the abv that's closest in line with Dupont.

 

During the yeast and brett polls it seemed like there were a lot of folks voting to use dregs from Saison Dupont and Orval, respectively. I'm surprised by the low ABVs from these polls, then, since neither of those beers is lower than 6.2%. I tend to like mid 6s for my saisons, but different strokes and all that. I chose 6.1%.

 

Just brewed an ipa on my new system, 15lbs of grain in my mash tun was barely enough. Went with 6.1, probably gonna double batch this one though.

 

go 5 go

 

Well as far as using Orval, it's just a good, easy, widely available form of Brett; I don't think the abv of Orval has anything to do with the "Averagely Perfect Saison". Yeah and for some reason I always thought Dupont was just 6%, but six, six and a half, does it really make that much of a difference? With the Brett chewing through everything, 6% just seems like a good compromise.

 

I had a 750 of Dupont last night (forgot how awesome this beer is), ABV = 6.5% I would have liked to have had 3 more but the alcohol precludes that

If I can get 90% of the way to Dupont with an ABV between 5 and 5.5% then I will be really happy (not that I think we are trying to clone Dupont). I am certainly willing to sacrifice some of the mouthfeel if I can keep most of the flavor from the yeast. I don't think that much (any?) of Dupont's flavor is coming from the alcohol.

 

A little off topic, but try a table saison, a la Dupont Avril. This is something I always have on in the summer, 3-4% ABV, full of flavor, can be ready to drink in a week with a warm fermentation. I ferment with Dupont or Blaugies dregs. Your homebrewed beer will likely have even more saison character than Avril unless you ferment too cold.

 

Everyone cites Dupont as the classic example but I think Blaugies Saison d'Epeautre deserves a look too. Drier than Dupont, a little less alcohol (6%), Farmhouse Ales singles it out as 'perhaps the most authentic example'. My personal preference too.

 

I've never found Avril on the shelves, but I have tried to brew in that "spirit", i.e. a low gravity (4 - 4.5%) and high flavor saison. Two summers ago was my "summer of saisons" I probably brewed 5 or 6 with 3724, just mixing up the hops and slight variations on the malts. It is hard to make a truly bad beer with that yeast or at least I was unable to

 

Agree 100%, few are finer. If in prison and they offered unlimited DuPont I would not apply for parole.

Agree again . . . but . . . unlike DuPont, the group has voted for mixed yeasts which is going to give a really low FG. Vikeman will let us vote on FG next, but my DuPont yeast finish in low single digits. No matter what attenuation is assumed, those little reinforced yeasties will be double-teaming a very thin wort if the group votes 5%. Remember, we don't vote on OG, it's a product of ABV, FG, and assumed attenuation. At the 5% level the grain bill gets mighty small . . . and with a predominate pilsner malt (assumed) it's likely the group will vote on a 90 min boil. Run the math in your software, at this low ABV we are looking at a 1.030'ish pre-boil OG. What's the least amount of grain you can mash?

The top twenty Saisons rated by The Bros are all over 6 percent. Five-percent'ers . . . you can change your vote.

 

Take a look at the worst rated Saisons. The majority of them are above 5.7%.
I personally prefer the lower ABV saisons a la Jolly Pumpkin, Jester King, and Crooked Stave. Therefore I voted for 5, but I would not be opposed to 5.7%.

 

Tightly contested battle going on here. Can hardly stand the suspense

 

My assumption is that the combination of 3724 and brett will take us to ~1.002. I haven't played with a calculator yet, but I agree that it will be a small amount of grain. I personally am thinking/hoping for some rye malt to be included to help with mouthfeel and to give the brett something to play with. With that said, I am not going to cry if we end up with 5.7 or 6.1, I'm just glad that the high 6's or low 7's are not in the running.