Black Pepper Saison – AG

Black Pepper Saison

Min OG: 1.048 Max OG: 1.080
Min IBU: 25 Max IBU: 45
Min Clr: 5 Max Clr: 12 Color in SRM, Lovibond


Recipe Specifics:

Batch Size (Gal): 5.50
Total Grain (Lbs): 13.00
Anticipated OG: 1.062
Anticipated IBU: 36.3
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes


Grain/Sugars:

8.50 lbs. Pilsner Malt(2-row)
2.00 lbs Belgian Biscuit Malt
1.50 lbs. White Wheat
0.50 lbs. CaraMunich Malt
0.50 lbs. Flaked Oats


Hops/Spices:

0.50 oz. Sorachi Ace – First Wort Hop in boil kettle.
0.50 oz. Fuggle – First Wort Hop in boil kettle.

0.50 oz. Fuggle @ 30 min.

Yeast nutrient blend @ 15 min.
1.00 oz. Fuggle @ 15 min.

2 tsp Black pepper, Fresh ground @ 5 min.
1.00 lbs. Orange Blossom Honey @ 5 min.


Yeast:

WYeast 3711 PC French Saison (Recommend yeast starter)

Saccharification Rest Temp: 148 degrees, 60 minutes (3.75 gal.) – Heat water to 155 degrees to make up for heat lost when mashing.
Mash-out Rest Temp: 180 degrees, 10 minutes (1.25 gal.) – Heat water to 185 degrees.
Sparge Temp: 170 degrees, 10 minutes (3.50 gal est.) – Heat water to 170 degrees.

Mash at 148 degrees for 60 minutes, then add your mash-out water and give it another 10 minutes, make sure first wort hops are in kettle.

After draining, add your sparge water and give it a good stir and let it rest for 10 minutes, vorlauf and drain to the kettle.

Boil, and be sure to make all your hop/spice additions as stated above.

Chill to 80 degrees, aerate well on the way to the fermenter and pitch the yeast starter.

Ferment at 68-70 degrees for 2 weeks.

After the 2 weeks, dry hop with another 0.50 oz. Sorachi Ace hops, and move to a warmer temp (78 degrees approx.) for 1 week.

Cold crash for 2-3 days to clarify.

When bottling, prime with 4.5 oz. corn sugar.

Let bottle condition @ 70 degrees for about 1 month. Enjoy!

 

Just to follow up on this recipe, I brewed this over the summer and man was it good. I figured this one is definitely worth putting up on here. The black pepper helps the spiciness of the yeast to really shine through, without any other herb additions getting in the way of the flavor. You get a clean, citrusy and spicy farmhouse ale in the end.

Let me know of your results if you decide to give this one a try some time! You won't be disappointed.

 

It just accentuates the yeast character. I think if you were to add more, it may stand out on its own, but I don't want to overdo it with the black pepper. I can see it getting out of hand pretty quickly.

Let me know if you give this one a try some time.

 

3711 attenuates really well, especially at higher temps. During the last 1.5 weeks of ferment I moved it to a closet that got real warm in the summer - around 78-80 F. Sorry, forgot to include the FG, but it came out very close to 1.000. Those hydrometers can be tricky to read at times.. I don't know if you keg or not but I used 4.5 oz corn sugar at bottling and got a nicely carbed, dry saison after 1-2 months in the bottle.

But yea, I've only used 3711 on saisons because it hasn't failed me yet! I'd be interested to try some other strains but like you said I know some can be finicky at times.