My original thought for this recipe was that I wanted to make a malty, toasty Amber with the Farmhouse Yeast (Wyeast 3726) I have on hand. This triggered a memory of New Belgium's Super Cru from ~10 years ago, which I think I was the only one who liked it. I'm not out to clone it so much as make something inspired by it. Here are a couple of sources that I used for my design: https://www.newbelgium.com/beer/super-cru/ https://austinhomebrew.com/assets/images/RCPPDF/09205.pdf ...and here's what I came up with: Grist: 80% Chateau Pale 10% Munich 6% C-80 5% Victory Mash at 150 for 60min. No sparge. 60min boil. Hops: Nugget @ 60 to 25ibu Williamette & EKG @ 15 to 15ibu Nugget @ FO (Peach/pear aroma?) Pitch 3726 @ 70F, gradually ramp up to 74F over course of fermentation. Est OG: 1.083 Est FG: 1.018 My batch size is 2.75 gal, so I'm wondering how much is too much Nugget at FO? I'm not sure that I want to go through the trouble of making juice from Asian pears, so I'm hoping the Nugget will contribute some of the subtle peach/pear I'm envisioning. Another concern is the amount of toastiness from the Victory. I'm thinking of upping it, but I don't want to overwhelm the other flavors. What % would land me on the high side of medium in this beer? My final thought is a possible addition of flaked oats to smooth this guy out. Unnecessary complication?
I've never used 3726 but can't imagine it would give you peach or pear flavors. I get solid pear from 3787/530 but never peachy. The only yeast that's given me a peach input has been Vermont Ale (Alchemist). Do not see how Nugget would give you what you're after, it's listed as woody/pine, not even sure you want to be dh'ing at all. I would stick with only two hops. If anything I would delete one of the specialty grains, probably the caramel . . . would not use any oats. With the gravities you listed I would go ahead and call this a Dubbel or Dark Strong.
3726/Imperial Rustic has a little more bubblegum to it than the other saison yeasts, in my experience, but not in an obnoxious way. It might be my favorite of the saison strains, but I really do need to do a side by side with 3724 one of these days. I think it could go well with the toasty malt profile. My recipe tweaks would be Eliminate the C-80 (my beers with 3726/Imperial Rustic have had the perception of a touch of sweetness, maybe because of the bubblegum? I never used crystal in a saison). Add an amber candi syrup to make up the gravity lost by eliminating the crystal; it will add some perceptions of toast without the heaviness that crystal brings. A 1.083 saison is quite strong for me, but personal preference aside, keeping the body light is important in any saison. These syrups are usually sold in 1 lb packages, so add the whole thing, and if need be, lower the base malt a touch, too, to get to your desired gravity. Skip the flameout nugget, as I worry it will get in the way of the yeast-driven flavor (I like hops in the background in saison for this reason).
I would ditch both the victory and crystal, and use a little caramunich for color. Its your beer though. I’m not familiar with New Belgium super Cru, but if you’re going for pear flavor than your only option might be actual pear. Juice or purée are easy enough. I don’t know of any yeast/ hop combination that will give you much of a pear flavor profile.
