Saison Recipe

All grain or extract? Saison yeast != funky

For all grain try something simple,

~10# pils malt and a continental hop at 60 min and 5 min (relatively low level of IBUs), no spices. The Dupont yeast is great just leave it alone and it will finish. Easy drinking summer beer.

 

Best Saison I ever brewed was 100% pilsner malt, bittered to 30 IBUs, finished with a few oz of styrians, and fermented with 3724. It went from 1.060 to 1.000.

Explain what you're looking for when you say "funk".

 

I use this grain-bill as a base...I have changed up the base malts, hop additions, the adjuncts, and used different Saison yeasts. The grain ratios stay the same, however, and all have been fantastic.

If you want it funky, ferment at 70° (or greater) ambient and let her rip.

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f71/cottage-house-saison-254684/

 

Why use cara malt of any kind in a Saison? Seems out of place to me, personally.

 

My most recent saison was simple but delicious, and a fairly high ABV:

12 lb 2-row UK pilsner
2 lb flaked oats
1 oz magnum (60 min)
3711

 

I don't know "the why," honestly. It seems to work though.

 

You CAN'T make a decent saison without crystal malt. Same as IPAs. Everyone knows that.

<runs away>

 

Funk in Saison usually means the use of Brettanomyces. I suggest a package of WY5112 Brett Brux at ~60% attenuation.

 

Add some flaked oats or something that will leave a tiny bit of body and pitch some brett. If you want funk you want brett. in most cases.

I used Pils, White Wheat, and GNO's in my saisons. Nelson or something fruity and 3711. I have some ECY 14 to use this year for my "white wine saison".

 

My last saison was an equal mix of wheat and pils with 5% aciduated for a little bite. I fermented with the dupont strain and threw brett brux trois, pitched both together. The beer is dryhopping now, but the last taste I took had a nice tartness, some belgian phenols and a lot of funk. I like what bbt brings to a saison and am thinking about harvesting this yeast for future saisons this summer.

 

brett trois has that tart citrusy note to it, that I agree, pairs perfect with a saison.

 

For a straight ahead saison, I like to use something like
70-80% pale base malt (I love using golden promise, but pils is traditional)
20-30% other base malt (vienna, munich, rye, really like the weyermann dark wheat, etc.)
mash low and slow, I tend to do an overnight mash starting at 152, but the temp obviously drops over the course of the night
FWH to the upper 20s with something low to mid alpha
Heavy whirlpool/steep addition of an american version of a noble hop
Whatever saison yeast you like.
Light dry hop with whatever I used for the steep.

 

100 percent pilsner to 1050 with 3711 makes a dilicious saison

 

If you like Boulevard tank 7, try this



77.5% pale malt
20% pregelatinized corn flakes
2.5% malted wheat

hops

magnum 6 ibu at 98 C
Simco 5 ibu at 15 after beginning of boil
Amarillo 15.7 ibu at 5 before end of boil
Amarillo 10.7 ibu in the whirlpool
dry hop Amarillo .089 kg/bbl

Fg = 1.009

 

Although the Dupont strain (WY3724, WLP 565) will ferment things pretty dry, some have found it finicky, sometimes stalling. Some try to speed it along with high temps and sugar. Some just wait it out. Some other saison strains have a reputation for ripping through things quickly.

 

I am 1 week in on a split ferment of 1.037 OG Saison. Both down to 1.007-1.008 today. 8# Pale Malt, 4# Flaked Rye, 2# MFB Munich. In oz 1:2:1 Calypso, Crystal, Amarillo @ 15mins, and same for 30 min whirlpool @170℉. Fermented half with Apostasy Confluence starter (Wit and Brett) other half got 3726+3725+Cascade Lacto+Brett B, L, C,Orval, Trois, and a plum isolate dubbed Brett F. Both will get 2oz each Amarillo DH. So far Fruity nose, rye mid palette and Phenols, bitter finish.

Have also had great success with 3724+Orval @ bottling.

3726 is nice but doesn't finish as low as I'd like and if you over pitch it is very muted.

3725 is great with spicing.

Gotta have Brett if you want funk, Orval is great for that.

 

Been blending 3724 and 3711. I don't love the 100% 3724 version of the saison I brewed, definitely brings the funk but missing some the fruitiness I'm looking for. Did a 90/10 3724 to 3711 saison a while back, came out very nice but maybe just a bit too fruity. Thinking about backing this off a bit, maybe 92/8 next batch. Oh yeah, took me 42 days at > 90 deg F to finish my 100% 3724 beer as well. The 90/10 took me 10 days.

 

I recommend trying 3724 + harvested Dupont (Avril is great for this). Dupont apparently is 4 separate strains, while 3724 is an isolate of the main fermenting strain. I've gotten more complexity and fruitiness from doing this, and it seems to finish more quickly as well.

 

+1 for orval dregs at bottling. I had great success with this on my last two saisons. Just need to make sure you get it really dry. My FGs were 1.001 and 1.005 for the two beers. I carbed at 2.3 volumes and the beer is perfect right now. I had read a lot about people saying you could get bottle bombs this way, but never read anyone saying they actually had, so I went ahead and did it. The fact that the beer was so dry made me feel like I would be fine though and I was.

Plus it means you get to drink orval on bottling day!