Saison Take 4

I now have 4 kegs to play with.  So far, I've got a hoppy pale ale in one and Porter fermenting which will go in the second.  I've decided a Belgian style with a flavorful yeast would be a nice beer to have on tap.  So, I've decided to brew up a Saison which will be my fourth attempt at the style (read about the first, second, and third).  It is a style of beer that is characterized by spicy yeast character and a dry finish.  Uniquely for any style I'm aware of, they're allowed to be either bitter or sour and funky.

With this beer, I'll be making a hoppy version.  I'll be using Wyeast 3724 which is reputed to be the Saison Dupont strain.  This yeast is reported to be very finicky with a propensity to stall at around 1.030 and then require warm fermentation temperatures to finish out.  If treated correctly, this yeast should be able to take the beer down to close to 1.000.  I'd used it once before but opted to pitch other microbes to drive fermentation to completion rather than fight with the Saison yeast.  The yeast character of Dupont is really wonderful though so I think it's worth some extra effort to get it.

I'll be fermenting with a reptile heater in the fermentation chamber to drive it into the mid-80s.  I'd expect to have to give it 6 weeks or more to complete.

For my malt bill I decided to use some raw wheat in addition to pilsner malt.  This will comprise about 25% of the grain.  I hope it adds a bit of complexity to the package.  It'll require a cereal mash to extract the sugars.  No specialty malts in this batch so a relatively simple grainbill.  I'm going to try to bring the beer in at around 5-6% ABV (like Dupont).

I have a lot of hops on hand but no traditional European hops.  I decided to try out a variety that is new to me for this one:  Legacy.  The reports are mixed on these (some report citrus character, some herbal and earthy like an English hop, while the description on Hops Direct says they have a black currant character.  The hops themselves smell nice but I'm not picking anything that reminds me of black currant.  Not sure how well this will work in a Saison but I don't think it's a big stretch to think it will make a drinkable beer.  I'll go with a bittering charge to ~30 IBU and an ounce or flavoring at the end of the boil.

This will be a long process.  Hopefully fermentation will proceed nicely without any need for action on my part.  I feel like my patience for fermentation hasn't been very good lately - I'll need to focus on relaxing and not putting the beer at risk though excessive action

Recipe Details:

• Grain:
• 7 lb Pilsner
• 3 oz Acid
• Cereal Mash
• 3 lb Raw Wheat
• 1 lb Pilsner
• Hops:
• 1 oz Legacy (Leaf, 8.1% AA) at 90 min
• 1 oz Legacy (Leaf, 8.1% AA) at 5 min
• Yeast:
• Wyeast 3724 Belgian Saison
• Water:
• 10 gal Spring Water
• 1 tsp CaCl
• 1 tsp Gypsum
• 1 tsp Irish Moss at 15 min

Process Details:

• Batch Size:
• 5.75 gal (Target 6 gal)
• Mash:
• Cereal Mash:
• Step 1:  Soak in 120 F water for 20 min
• Step 2:  Raise to 155 F and Rest for 20 min
• Step 3:  Boil for 20 min
• Main Mash:
• 150 F for 60 min
• Boil:
• 90 min
• Fermentation Temperature:
• Pitch at 68 F and let rise naturally
• Ramp the temperature up to 85 F over the first week and hold
• Primary Duration:
• 6 weeks
• Secondary Duration:
• NA

Results:

• OG:
• 1.054 (Target 1.050)
• Efficiency:
• 77% (Target 74%)
• FG:
• 1.002 (Target 1.004)
• Apparent Attenuation:
• 96% (Target 92%)
• ABV:
• 6.8% (Target 6.0%)

Brewing Notes:

• 10/10/20 - Made a 1 litre starter using 100 g of DME and set it up on a stir plate over night
• 10/11/20  - Brewday - 8:45 AM to 3:00 PM- Including setup and cleanup
• Cereal Mash:
• Heated 3 gal of spring water up to 125 F
• Stirred in my grain and let it sit for 20 min
• Heated up to 155 F and let rest for 20 more min
• Brought the mash to a boil and held for 20 min

• Let the cereal mash cool while preparing the main mash
• Heated 8 gal of sparge water to 170 F
• Milled my grain (added CaCl and Gypsum to it)
• I had double milled the raw wheat for the cereal mash earlier
• Moved 4 gal to the mash tun and cycled through the RIMS at 155 F
• Stopped the RIMS and added the main mash grain.  Let this sit for 10 min.  Temperature settled to 146 F
• Cereal mash had only cooled to 190 F.  I added enough cool spring water to bring it down to 160 F
• Added the cereal mash to the mash tun - stirred this into the other grain.  Let it sit for 10 min.  Temperature had settled to 150 F.
• Cycled the RIMS at 152 F which keeps the mash at 150 F.  Cycle for 60 min\

• Heated 5 gal of sparge water to 180 F
• Drained the whole mash tun into the boil kettle as a batch sparge.  Started heating after collecting about 4 gal.  Collected about 5 gal in this first sparge.  The wort started pretty clear but I carried quiet a lot of particulate into the boil kettle with this method
• Added the full 5 gal of sparge water to the mash tun.  Stirred it into all the grain and let sit for 10 min to settle.
• Added the bittering hops once the boil started
• Drained the second batch sparge into the boil kettle - did this slowly so the boil wasn't interrupted.
• Boiled for 90 min
• With 15 min left I added Irish Moss
• At 5 min I added flavoring hops and the wort chiller to sanitize
• At flameout I chilled down to 80 F
• Drained into my fermenter.  Let it fall a couple feet to aerate
• Measured the gravity as 1.054 and the volume as 5.75 gal.  Decided to leave it as is.
• Moved to the fermentation chamber to chill down to 68 F before pitching the yeast
• Pitched the yeast.  Turned off temperature control and added a reptile heater to keep things warm

• 10/12/20 - The fermenter is bubbling and sitting at 73 F today
• 10/14/20 - I added a second heating pad to the chest freezer last night.  The fermenter is up to 76 F this morning and it's still bubbling.
• 10/18/20 - The fermenter has been sitting at 81 F for the last few days.  The airlock is still bubbling fairly frequently
• 10/22/20 - Got too curious to wait.  Measured the gravity as 1.010.  The beer is still bubbling a little bit and holding at 80 F.  Happy to see I don't have a stuck fermentation at least
• 11/1/20 -  The beer bubbled for most of this last week.  This has mostly stopped.  Moved the beer out of the chest freezer to the basement in the low 60s to make room for my next beer.
• 11/14/20 - Measured the gravity again - it's down to 1.004.  It has a nice fruity and spicy yeast character and a bitter finish.  It's cloudy still.  I will cold crash and fine with gelatin this week.
• 11/19/20 - Moved to the chest freezer to cold crash down to 36 F
• 11/20/20 - Added gelatin to clear the beer
• 11/21/20 - Transferred to a keg purged with CO2 and set it up to carbonate at 13 PSI.  Measured the gravity one final time and found it was 1.002.  Got a couple more pints than could fit in the keg which I was more than happy to dispose of (down the gullet of course)- it is a very tasty beer.

• 12/31/20 - Tasting Notes - This is boldly flavored beer and is quite refreshing with the dry and bitter finish.  I really enjoy the ester profile.  From memory, I think this is very much like how Saison Dupont tastes (will test that next).  It hides it's almost 7% ABV very well - would not guess it is that high from drinking it (but you do feel it the next morning which is my only qualm with this beer)
• 5/27/21 - Kicked this keg.  It lasted a long time because it was too strong for me to drink a large portion.  I'll miss it for sure.