Strangest thing you've put in a Saison

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by harryhood1, Feb 4, 2014.

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  1. harryhood1

    harryhood1 Initiate (0) Dec 5, 2009 Pennsylvania

    that ended up "working." I've done tons of Saisons with spices, brett, bugs, extracts, all kinds of stuff and I'm curious what others have added to their Saisons that came out surprisingly well?
     
  2. checktherhyme

    checktherhyme Savant (1,036) Apr 8, 2008 Washington

    Lime, Smoked Pumpkin, Cranberries, Brett, and Winter Spices, have been some things I've done. Cranberry works especially well. I love bastardizing Saisons. They take flavor so well IMO.
     
  3. SFACRKnight

    SFACRKnight Grand Pooh-Bah (3,348) Jan 20, 2012 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I've done oats, blueberries, brett, wheat, nothing too crazy. I like dryhopping them though. Dryhops really play well with brett saisons.
     
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  4. carteravebrew

    carteravebrew Initiate (0) Jan 21, 2010 Colorado

    Lemon zest and crushed peppercorns for a lemon pepper saison...was pretty tasty.
     
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  5. FATC1TY

    FATC1TY Pooh-Bah (2,564) Feb 12, 2012 Georgia
    Pooh-Bah

    Mango's and Oranges... I liked the play with a acid on the 3711 backdrop.
     
  6. harryhood1

    harryhood1 Initiate (0) Dec 5, 2009 Pennsylvania

    All interesting responses so far. Definitely have loved using pepper and lemon in the past. Works so well if done right.
     
  7. harryhood1

    harryhood1 Initiate (0) Dec 5, 2009 Pennsylvania

    I agree. Most fun style to play around with. How did the Lime work?
     
  8. graemepattison

    graemepattison Initiate (0) Nov 25, 2012 England

    I a have split my first saison into 3 small batches. pineapple, rhubarb and whisky barrel chips. still waiting to try them.
     
  9. firstthenlast

    firstthenlast Initiate (0) Nov 25, 2013 Massachusetts

    pilsner malt and hops
     
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  10. Thorpe429

    Thorpe429 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,705) Aug 18, 2008 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah

    I've done plenty, but probably the strangest I've done is adding lavender, black cardamom, and fermenting on red wine-soaked oak cubes. That's one of my favorite beers I've done to date.

    Another favorite of mine is a pilsner, wheat, and rye saison with Sorachi Ace and lime zest with Brett C. I'm going to do that again soon and age a portion of it with gin-soaked oak cubes.

    I agree with others that it's such a versatile style, and it's interesting to see what different additions can add in varying amounts. I'm a huge proponent of splitting batches between fruits, spices, yeasts, bugs, etc. with saisons.

    Other things I've added to saisons include raspberries, blackberries, peaches, strawberries, white wine-soaked oak cubes, Meyer lemon zest, Satsuma mandarin zest, blood orange zest, clementine zest, rose hips, grains of paradise, etc.
     
  11. checktherhyme

    checktherhyme Savant (1,036) Apr 8, 2008 Washington

    Subtle but really well. I get a lot of lemon from some Saisons, so I figured lime would work, and it did.
     
  12. CavemanBrau

    CavemanBrau Initiate (0) Apr 5, 2013 Iowa

    Dandelions. I definitely skimped on the amount of dandelions used. I will be attempting this one again in the spring.
     
  13. Thorpe429

    Thorpe429 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,705) Aug 18, 2008 Illinois
    Pooh-Bah

    I definitely want to try this in the spring as well. Since I figure I might only get one chance, I'll probably do a 10-gallon batch, using dandelions for half. I'll overestimate and then blend back the "clean" half as necessary.
     
  14. harryhood1

    harryhood1 Initiate (0) Dec 5, 2009 Pennsylvania

    Very cool ideas. And yes, I brew 11 gallon batches at a time, and try to split them and make them different beers as often as I can.
     
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  15. jae

    jae Initiate (0) Feb 21, 2010 Washington

    Black cardamom (in a dark saison with dark belgian candi sugar & midnight wheat).
     
  16. SFACRKnight

    SFACRKnight Grand Pooh-Bah (3,348) Jan 20, 2012 Colorado
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    I think my next one is gonna be grapefruit and sorachi ace hops after reading this thread.
     
  17. FATC1TY

    FATC1TY Pooh-Bah (2,564) Feb 12, 2012 Georgia
    Pooh-Bah

    I'm not crazy about Saisons but this has me wanting to toss one on deck during a double brew weekend soon for the spring.

    Maybe a berliner, and a pilsner, and then a saison.

    I'm thinking using some Nelson like I did in the past, using some good sour local GA peaches, and then aging it on some white wine soaked oak cubes for a little bit... That could be fucking great.
     
  18. DrewBeechum

    DrewBeechum Pooh-Bah (1,954) Mar 15, 2003 California
    Pooh-Bah

    where do you want me to start? :slight_smile:
     
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  19. od_sf

    od_sf Initiate (0) Nov 2, 2010 California

    I'll be the lone dissenting voice here I guess. I think that saison yeast strains are very complex on their own, and shine best with simple grain and hop bills. My favorite examples of the style (commercial or homebrew) don't feature any "weird" additions.
     
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  20. skivtjerry

    skivtjerry Pooh-Bah (1,865) Mar 10, 2006 Vermont
    Pooh-Bah

    Hibiscus and brett. Not so adventurous as some, but it won its category in a couple of large competitions. If you've ever wanted to make a pink beer...
     
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