Saison #4 (dark saison)

I had some D90 and D180 waiting to be used and still had saisons on the brain. I decided to do a dark saison and see if I could tell any difference between the two sugars. To make things interesting, I decided to also try some of the leftover homemade Invert #2 sugar as well. Maybe there is no point buying D90/D180 if I make something just as good.

Brewed 4/15/15
12 gallons

Grain
--------------------------------------------

2 row 18#

Rye Malt 2#
Flaked Rye 3#
Crisp Crystal Rye 1.5#
Chocolate Malt .75#

total 25.25#

Mash Temp = ?

Hops
--------------------------------------------

Nelson Sauvin 1oz @60 mins

Yeast
--------------------------------------------
OYL 211 cake from saison #3

Split 3 ways when yeast was pitched
1) one pound of D180
2) one pound of D90
3) one pound of homemade Invert #2

4/26: 3 gallons of the D180 and D90 went into Better Bottles with dregs, remainder was bottled
Dregs: Anchorage Calabaza Boreal, 3F, Wicked Week Genesis, Fantome

Bottled all of the Invert #2

1/6/16 (a little more than 8 months in the bottle)

Invert #2

A: Dark brown, lots of light tan lace, very sticky

S: Very muted, even as it warms there is just a slight hint of what might be brett

T: Surprisingly there is no brett at all, it doesn't even come across as very dry. There is a hint of sweetness, but I think that is my mind playing tricks. Definitely not a dry beer though.

M: Slightly round and creamy, not an oatmeal stout, but more full than a saison should be.

D: Goes down easy, a nice winter beer, but ultimately something is missing. I hope the soured beers turn out better.

10/24/16
Found a bottle in the back of the fridge, probably been there for 4-6 months. I found myself wishing that I had added brett to the bottle and then looked at this recipe and realized that there was brett, it has just not done very much. It turned out to be a pretty beer though.

Saison #5 (Averagely Perfect Saison)

Based on the 3rd annual group recipe from BeerAdvocate
http://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/averagely-perfect-saison-pellet-hop-version-ag.275601/

Brewed: 4/26/15
12 gallons

Grain
--------------------------------------------

Avagard Pils 14.75#

Weyerman 6L Munich 3.25#
Flaked Wheat 3#
Wheat Malt .75#

Hops
--------------------------------------------

Saaz 1.25oz @60 min

Hallertau 1.25oz @60 min
2oz each @10 min
2oz each @1 min

Yeast
--------------------------------------------
Dupont cake from Saison #2
then split 3 ways
1) Orval dregs copitched
2) Orval dregs @ 40 hours
3) Orval dregs @ bottling

My temperature controller was not working so I just used a small space heater, but things went awry. Pitched at 68 and put on the basement floor (~62 degrees).
15hrs: @66 degrees - moved off the floor to warm a bit
24hrs: @67 degrees - krausen is obvious, turned on heater
40hrs: @95 degrees - high krausen, turned down heater and added mid-pitch
48hrs: @80 degrees - still a krausen
7 days: turned off heater, left alone until bottling

Bottled: 5/17/15

7/2/15:From left to right: Brett added as Co-Pitch, Mid-Pitch, Bottling
The co-pitch was a more gentle pour, hence the smaller head.

Very subtle differences at this point. The bottling addition has more brett character and is a little more dry, but not by much. The biggest difference is the brett seems to linger on the back of the tongue in the bottling addition vs. disappearing almost immediately in the co-pitch. The mid-pitch is somewhere in between. I suspect that the brett will become more pronounced in the bottling version over time while not much will change with the co-pitch.

11/15/15
So, it turns out I was wrong about how the brett was going to affect these beers. At this point, six months after bottling, the three beers are basically the same. Sometimes I think I detect differences, sometimes I don't. Based on this, I don't think there is a big difference in pitching times if you are also pitching Saccharomyces as well.

A: Crystal clear, awesome head and lace, very pretty
S: A little bit of brett barnyard, a slight lemon/citrus.
T: Slight acidity followed by brett earthiness
M: Very dry, almost astringent, lingers on the tongue
D: This beer makes me glad to be a homebrewer. Not the best saison I have ever had or made, but way better than the local breweries. Almost too easy to drink.

Saison #2

Saison #2 in my summer of saisons

Brewed 3/7/15
12 gallons
Intended OG: 1.048
Actual OG: 1.047 @ 12 gallons
IBU: 24 (modified Tinseth)


Grain
----------------------------------
Weyerman Bo Pils - 15#
Weyerman Munich (6L) - 4#
Rye Malt - 4#

total - 23#

Hops
---------------------------------
Nelson Sauvin ( ) - 1oz @ 60 mins
Nelson Sauvin ( ) - 1oz @ 3 mins
Willamette ( ) - 2oz @ 3 mins

Yeast
---------------------------------
Split into 3 x 4 gallons
- Dupont cake from Saison #1
- OYL Saisonstein Monster
- stepped up dregs from Wicked Week Bretticent

Mashed at 150 degrees for 60 minutes
Mashout at 168

Pitched at 68 degrees and let temperatures rise to 75 degrees
Bottled on 3/29 - half of each got Orval dregs at bottling
Labeled as
S2B - Saison #2 Bretticent
S2BO - Saison #2 Bretticent w/ Orval
S2S - Saison #2 Saisonstein
S2SO - Saisonstein w/ Orval
S2D - Dupont
S2DO - Dupont w/ Orval

Saison #1

 Saison #1

The first of many saisons in my attempt to figure out what works and what doesn't.

Brewed 2/4/15
5.5 gallons
Intended SG: 1.046
Actual SG: 1.046 @ 5.2 gallons
IBU: 27 (modified Tinseth)

Grain
------------------------------
Weryerman Bohemian Pils - 8#
Weyerman Munich (6L) - 1#

Total - 9#

Hops
------------------------------
Wilamette (5.3%)
1oz @ 60 mins
1oz @ 10 mins

Yeast
------------------------------
Starter cultured from Dupont

Mash @ 148 for 60 mins
Mashout @ 168
Fermented at 75 degrees
gravity dropped to 1.003 in 7 days

Bottled on 3/7
1/2 got Orval dregs and 1/2 plain


4/26: Just mowed my lawn for the first time this spring. This must be how a field worker in Belgium felt 100 years ago :)

5/12: The Orval version in a Duvel tulip
A: Very nice almost perfectly white head, it eventually drops to a thin film leaving no lace.
S: Hint of spice, slight graininess, very muted.
T: Very dry with a slight Pils malt sweetness, the Dupont yeast is there, but the Orval dregs have not done too much, even though this has been in the bottle for 2 months.
M: Started with a lot of tingly carbonation, but that has faded by then end, very dry/lingering on the tongue.
O: A good, but definitely not great saison. I will happily finish off these bottles, but definitely needs improvement. Maybe a higher fermentation temp and another pound of Munich.