NB petite saison (extract) / addition question

I just bottled a saison with lemon peel in the boil, added fresh with 5 min left in the boil. It hasn't carbed up but it tasted really good, complements the sorachi/cascade very well. I will repeat it but with grapefruit next time.

 

I recommend 1 ounce of fresh sweet orange zest (use a grater or in a pinch a potato peeler) which is about 1 medium size orange. Add at 5 minutes and throw it in your hop bag if you have one. The dehydrated orange peel you see in the stores is a poor substitute.

Other spices that really do good in a Saison are corriander and grains of paradise.

 

I just brewed that about two months ago. If I were you I'd just brew it as is without adding anything to it. As a matter of fact, I too read the reviews and saw the comments about all the things people had added to it. I was very tempted to throw in some lavender or other things but decided to wait until I brew it again. I'm glad I did. The beauty of the recipe is the simplicity.

Honestly, brew it now and take notes on what you may like to add if you brew it again based on what you taste. Just my thoughts. It will probably turn out great either way.

 

I will add that in my experience, fermenting warm (mine was 77-80) will create enough spice character for most people. Try it without spices at first, and if you don't like it rebrew with coriander, fresh ginger or grains of paradise. What yeast are you using?

 

I'm not familiar with the recipe, but in general I woudn't add orange peel to a saison. If I did though, I'd use fresh zest, at about 5 minutes from the end of the boil.

Cacao nibs in a saison? I'm starting to warm up to the idea of orange peel.... Seriously, it's another one I wouldn't do. But I can tell you that when I dry nibbed other beers, 5 days was more than enough. When I removed the nibs and tasted what was left, the nib carcasses were waxy and tasteless. They also add fat to your beer, so expect to affect foam retention.

 

I made a "petite saison" with this yeast and it turned out wonderful. It was a smash beer with 12 lbs of base malt, fermented at 64F (not warm in any stage) and it had great flavor and a decent amount of spiciness. It was beautiful in its simplicity. I'll likely brew it again, perhaps trying another base malt, but leaving it as a smash, and keeping the 64F temperature profile*. However, adding a little grains of paradise, orange/citrus peel, or other herbal type spice could compliment the flavors quite well. If I were going to do this with a warm fermented saison with this yeast, I'd want to brew it straight up first, then add spices on a subsequent batch. That way I'd know the base flavor profile and would have a better idea of what spices would go well with that yeast and fermentation profile.

*partially because my fermentation freezers are usually kept at this temperature and aren't at my house, thus it's just easier that way

 

That yeast is awesome, got my beer down to 1.000. It ferments like crazy the first few days, make sure to use a blow-off and not an airlock! You can ferment it cool but I brought it up to 77-80 and got some awesome spiciness/fruitiness from it.