Mark D Pirate Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 With temps here in Adelaide looking like nudging 40°C for much of the next month or more I'll need a heat tolerant brew since doubt I'll be able to get FV down any colder than 22 , have 3 batches of pale ales hopefully improving with age . What brands of saison are going to be indicitive of what I'll be trying to achieve with a saison , staff at uncle Dan's had no clue but would like to save myself brewing a batch of beer I don't want to drink (love ,time and a few dollars too ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antiphile Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 What's it taste like, huh? Let me put it this way. There's a northern man who often pops in whose main ambition in life is to make hi-octane saisons. I'm not for one moment suggesting they have affected his brain, but these days his lawn-mower lager is 80 IBUs with an ABV of 9%. Rest in piss, my old friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB2 Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 BJCP Guidelines have a description of Saison You might find that bottleshops like Goodwood Cellars have at least one variant of Saison. Saison Dupont is a good one to start with and bang on the style you might like to strive for, while Brooklyn Brewery Sorachi Ace Saison is delightful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antiphile Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Aww schucks, PB2, sometimes you can be such a party pooper when you tell the truth! But I think even the experts might agree that it could be difficult to brew a nice saison given the horrible temps you guys are expecting for the next several days (at least). From what I've picked up from reading, you maybe OK if you can keep the ferment down to around 25C (or possibly a degree or so higher), but you may be wasting really nice ingredients for a while if that can't be achieved. But the best of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry's Cat Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 I've had my first saison going for the past couple of weeks following pb2's recipe hereabouts. General concensus from digging around the forum suggest it wants to stay in the fv for another couple of weeks. Regarding taste, the delicate scent would suggest its going to be like a nice ripe cheese edit : also did this according to Adelaide weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 I'm drinking a Bridge Road Chevalier Saison right now which is a nice example. But try the DuPont Saison if you can get your hands on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark D Pirate Posted December 16, 2015 Author Share Posted December 16, 2015 thanks guys , i can get temps down to about 22 ... otherwise until i get a brew fridge set up i'll have to stop brewing for the summer anything that requires a lower ferment temp than that . its now a case of having either a cool brew room or sleeping outside so still kinda 50/50 had thought about trying to have cake and eat it by brewing in bedroom but thats the top of a slippery slope i think ... beer already invades my dreams , dreamt i brewed a near perfect sierra nevada pale clone and forgot how i did it ....O, but that way madness lies! let me shun that ! will try to find a worthy Saison as a benchmark but hopefully not a ripe cheese smell ... my second APA has a distinct smell of dirty socks (had just taken boots off ) but third batch still in FV has a wonderful mostly piney / citrus hint after dry hopping with some chinook and cascade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ben 10 Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 I like a home brew Saison, can't say that mine have ever smelt like ripe cheese. They have a surprisingly malty taste despite the fact they are usually quite dry. Prominent yeast flavours although Wyeast Biere De Garde fermented at ambient has been very mellow. For me minimal spice and a fair whack of tangerine/ orange. Mangrove Jacks Belgian Ale can get rather warm without being overpowering. Danstar's Belle Saison will make your face fall off when fermented very warm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerlust Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 It's the French trying to make beer! Very light bodied due mainly to the high attenuation from the Saison yeast strains. Very fruity & can be estery as well if fermented at higher temps that is usual for the style. Tastes can vary, but of those I've tried there is a definite likeness to champagnes & that is due to the similarities of the yeasts used in the production of each. It's a lovely beer style to throw down in the warmer months & is beginning to gather a bit of momentum again particularly here in AUS due to our hot summers. The Coopers DIY recipe: Saison makes a ripping example of the style, & one I really enjoyed. For one a little off the radar, ask Ben10 about his Rosella flower Saison. He kindly sent me a bottle of this a while back & it is simply gorgeous to look at in the glass & tastes pretty damn good. With a little tweaking & development, I believe he has a potential show winner on his hands. But don't tell him I said that OK! Cheers, Lusty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porschemad911 Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 G'day Markoman, I can second Hairy's recommendation of the Bridge Road Chevalier Saison. I found some hidden away in my local Dan's so you might get lucky there. It's a nice one! Other than Saison Dupont, the nicest one I've had is from Blackheart Brewing, so give that a try if you come across it. The beauty of Saison is that it can be just about anything you want it to be, from this podcast I learned that it never has really been a style as such. The constant is that the yeast strains used, which are highly attenuative to give a dry, refreshing beer. I can second what Ben10 said, the ones I have brewed have never tasted thin or watery despite finishing at a pretty low gravity the last one I brewed got down to 1.000. That was with Wyeast 3726PC, and I left it in the sunroom over February while I was away. It would have got pretty hot in there, but I didn't get any off flavours. So depending on the yeast strain you're using, just let it go and don't worry about temp so much. I'd still say to try to keep it cooler for the first few days (20 - 25C), but after that let it heat up to get the full attenuation. Some strains are reportedly trickier than others. As others have mentioned, the yeast strains tend to generate some fairly funky flavours. There'll be pear, various spices, occasionally a bit of pepper, maybe citrus, and they are really nice highly carbonated because it helps them sort of dance on your tongue a bit. I found it took a while for the 'yeasty' aroma to settle down with 3726PC, but this probably varies by strain. The yeast-generated flavours are really the highlight, so although there is no real style as such, the rest of the ingredients need to compliment these and not clash. I think this has led to some sort of standardization, mostly very pale malt (pilsner, pale and / or wheat malt), with a touch of more highly kilned malt (vienna / munich) as these malt flavours don't try to compete too much with the yeast. And crystal malt is probably going against the dry, refreshing quality that makes these so good, so leave that out. Don't be afraid to give them a decent bitterness (eg 30 IBUs), but I'd steer clear of a ton of late hops. I'd also steer clear of the use of roasted malts, but there are brewers making all kinds of beers with the tag ' Saison'. Fruit seems fairly popular to use as well and I enjoyed a raspberry Saison I made. Of course all this depends on what you like, but I'd make a fairly simple one first so you can see if you like the yeast-generated flavours. This high attenuation can catch you out in terms of ABV, eg my first Saison hit 8.5% ABV. The alcohol sort of interfered with the flavour a bit (and made it hard to drink too many), so I now aim for a sub-1.050 OG. The one I brewed that went down to 1.000 ended up at just under 7% ABV after bottle conditioning and that was really, really good. With the one I'm currently brewing, I'm aiming for just under 6% ABV. Cheers, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 I overdid it a couple of brews back with the Amarillo & Galaxy only a shortish boil, but left it in the wort when I tipped it in the FV, rather than straining it out, & it ended up with a very distinct lemony flavour. Maybe rather than call it a disappointing hoppy pale ale, I should call it a successful accidental saison? Many a good brew turn out from fortuitous mistakes or miscalculations I guess?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICzed Posted December 17, 2015 Share Posted December 17, 2015 Bridge Road Saison is top notch - here's the link for Dan Murphy's. https://www.danmurphys.com.au/product/DM_403551/bridge-road-brewers-chevalier-saison-750ml Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry's Cat Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Just an update : took a sample this evening at 3 weeks in and it is down to 1008 from an OG of 1070 . shall see what another week does. Regarding the original question about taste, it is like a wheat beer with a lot of interesting stuff going on ! I reckon that the "funky" description hits the nail on the head. (not a hint of cheese I'm happy to report). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB2 Posted December 24, 2015 Share Posted December 24, 2015 Bridge Road Saison is top notch - here's the link for Dan Murphy's.https://www.danmurphys.com.au/product/DM_403551/bridge-road-brewers-chevalier-saison-750ml Tasted this yesterday - very nice! Also' date=' had a Saison D'Heretique, which comes in a 4 can giftpack - also a lovely example of the style. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted December 25, 2015 Share Posted December 25, 2015 I wanted to try the Saison D'Heretic when I was at the brewery a few weeks ago but unfortunately they had run out. However they did have an IPA that smelt like vomit (or like Parmesan cheese in a Can). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark D Pirate Posted December 27, 2015 Author Share Posted December 27, 2015 I'm drinking a Bridge Road Chevalier Saison right now which is a nice example. got that one in front of me right now , pretty damn nice if i say so ! Cant think of it as a session beer though , so any advice on dialing back the ABV a little by modifying the coopers recipe without losing too much guts ? call it the lightweights saison maybe do the 8.5 l craft recipe made out to 10 l ? Both FVs are busy for at least another week so its just as another option (assuming my almost sunkissed weiss is drinkable !) i'll probably alternate brews between everyday /after work beers and something a bit different so even an experimental brew wont leave me heartbroken or overly thirsty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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