Inspiration
I've been starting to get closer to where I'd like my saison to be in this series, and wanted to continue searching for ways to improve it. I really enjoyed the last Mediamatic/Chein Bleu saison I made because of the malt composition and the aging of the beer on brett in the bottle. This has led to one of the best saisons I've made. With this beer, I wanted to update my Mediamatic recipe based on what I learnt from Chien Bleu, decrease the oats used, and split the spelt into two, and use rye and wheat instead.
The most important part about this batch is that it'll be a search for a new yeast in my saison. I've cultured Fantome, Blaugies and Tired Hands dregs, and also have my normal yeast I use in this series, and will be splitting this batch into four containers to see how they turn out with these different yeasts. At the end of fermentation, I'll split all of them into two, and add dregs from Brasserie de la Senne's Brett B into half of each batch. I love how strong this brett beer is from de la Senne, and think it may work really nicely in saison as well.
The most important part about this batch is that it'll be a search for a new yeast in my saison. I've cultured Fantome, Blaugies and Tired Hands dregs, and also have my normal yeast I use in this series, and will be splitting this batch into four containers to see how they turn out with these different yeasts. At the end of fermentation, I'll split all of them into two, and add dregs from Brasserie de la Senne's Brett B into half of each batch. I love how strong this brett beer is from de la Senne, and think it may work really nicely in saison as well.
Recipe
Boil Time: 90 min
Batch Size: 17 liters
Original Gravity: 1.043
Final Gravity: TBA
ABV (standard): TBA
Fermentables
Bohemian Pilsner 62%
Rye 13.5%
Wheat 13.5%
Flaked Oats 11%
Hops
5.5g - Warrior, Type: Pellet added at First Wort
100g - Cascade, Type: Pellet, AA: 6.9, Use: Whirlpool 30 minutes 80C
Mash Guidelines
1) Infusion, Temp: 65 C, Time: 60 min
2) Sparge, Temp: 77 C, Time: 10 min
Yeast
Jug 1: Saison Brett Blend Yeast Bay slurry + starter generation 5
Jug 2: Brasserie Fantome cultured dregs
Jug 3: Brasserie Blaugies cultured dregs
Jug 4: Tired Hands Ourison cultured dregs
Water
Amsterdam Source + 1.35g Campden and 2g Gypsum added to mash
Mash add: 4ml Lactic Acid = 5.35 pH
Sparge add: 0.30g Campden
Boil Add: 1 gram CaCl
4ml Lactic Acid
Post-Boil: 5.15 pH
Notes
Brewed 20211211
0.5L water added to each
Primary starts at 22C
20211213: Beers are now all fermenting well. The Tired Hands dregs were slower to start as I had thought they might, but are also looking good now.
13-16: Increased by 1C everyday until 25C
20211216: Up to 25C and add 10 grams of oak cubes to each
20220116: Pulled one liter of each beer and put into one glass jug with Four Winds Edna dregs. Packaged the remaining half with Brettanomyces Bruxellensis dregs from de la Senne and the other half clean.
Tasting notes at bottling (around 1 month after brew day):
Blaugies: Light, straw like aroma with slight fruity and flora notes. Tastes light-bodied, somewhat barnyard funky, dry, peppery and floral. Not the best of the group, but still very interesting and I'm looking forward to it aging.
Fantome: Fruity nose with a spicy undertone and light. Beer is light/medium-bodied, spicy, and lightly acidic, notably dark-fruit. This had been previously medicinal and that has aged out. Also to note, the beer had a pellicle in the tank.
House: Nose is light, fruity and lightly barnyard and sweet - honey. Beer is medium-bodied (most of the group), fruity more than others, creamy and soft, and lightly spicy. Overall tastes really nice so far. For all of these, there is a faint oak flavour that I've just noticed now. Very subtle. Also to note, this beer had a pellicle and was beginning to have a bit of an off-funky aroma when packaged. The beer doesn't taste or smell like that though. An overall really nice Saison at the moment.
Tired Hands: The beer I had the most anticipation and hope for. Aroma is fairly muted, fruity, round. Beer is medium/full-bodied, hazy, fruity (the best of the group) and has a really nice level of acidity. It's less acidic than the original TH beer, but has a lot of the qualities of this beer in it. It's a really nice, juicy, fruity, tart, lightly oaked and creamy/round beer. Quite different from the more traditional blaugies and fantome beers.
Overall: the Blaugies and Fantome stand together as belgian classic saisons, the House beer acts as a transition between the group, and the Tired Hands beer is the modern American saison that feels akin to hazy IPA - like a hazy IPA/Saison crossbreed.
2022/03/25: Tasting TH beer. Tastes incredible. I'm really happy where this one is now. There is a peach/fruit/candy like quality to the beer with a fluffy and full bodied mouthfeel that is intercepted by an assertive but not over-powering carbonation, and cut through by an acidity that is really refreshing. The carbonation sort of cascades through the full mouthfeel of the beer. The flavour is also barnyard like, with a funkiness and rustic grain character that I really enjoy. I honestly don't know how to improve this beer from where it is now. I think I need a professional brewer to help analyze it for me. I wish I could have this regularly.
Batch Size: 17 liters
Original Gravity: 1.043
Final Gravity: TBA
ABV (standard): TBA
Fermentables
Bohemian Pilsner 62%
Rye 13.5%
Wheat 13.5%
Flaked Oats 11%
Hops
5.5g - Warrior, Type: Pellet added at First Wort
100g - Cascade, Type: Pellet, AA: 6.9, Use: Whirlpool 30 minutes 80C
Mash Guidelines
1) Infusion, Temp: 65 C, Time: 60 min
2) Sparge, Temp: 77 C, Time: 10 min
Yeast
Jug 1: Saison Brett Blend Yeast Bay slurry + starter generation 5
Jug 2: Brasserie Fantome cultured dregs
Jug 3: Brasserie Blaugies cultured dregs
Jug 4: Tired Hands Ourison cultured dregs
Water
Amsterdam Source + 1.35g Campden and 2g Gypsum added to mash
Mash add: 4ml Lactic Acid = 5.35 pH
Sparge add: 0.30g Campden
Boil Add: 1 gram CaCl
4ml Lactic Acid
Post-Boil: 5.15 pH
Notes
Brewed 20211211
0.5L water added to each
Primary starts at 22C
20211213: Beers are now all fermenting well. The Tired Hands dregs were slower to start as I had thought they might, but are also looking good now.
13-16: Increased by 1C everyday until 25C
20211216: Up to 25C and add 10 grams of oak cubes to each
20220116: Pulled one liter of each beer and put into one glass jug with Four Winds Edna dregs. Packaged the remaining half with Brettanomyces Bruxellensis dregs from de la Senne and the other half clean.
Tasting notes at bottling (around 1 month after brew day):
Blaugies: Light, straw like aroma with slight fruity and flora notes. Tastes light-bodied, somewhat barnyard funky, dry, peppery and floral. Not the best of the group, but still very interesting and I'm looking forward to it aging.
Fantome: Fruity nose with a spicy undertone and light. Beer is light/medium-bodied, spicy, and lightly acidic, notably dark-fruit. This had been previously medicinal and that has aged out. Also to note, the beer had a pellicle in the tank.
House: Nose is light, fruity and lightly barnyard and sweet - honey. Beer is medium-bodied (most of the group), fruity more than others, creamy and soft, and lightly spicy. Overall tastes really nice so far. For all of these, there is a faint oak flavour that I've just noticed now. Very subtle. Also to note, this beer had a pellicle and was beginning to have a bit of an off-funky aroma when packaged. The beer doesn't taste or smell like that though. An overall really nice Saison at the moment.
Tired Hands: The beer I had the most anticipation and hope for. Aroma is fairly muted, fruity, round. Beer is medium/full-bodied, hazy, fruity (the best of the group) and has a really nice level of acidity. It's less acidic than the original TH beer, but has a lot of the qualities of this beer in it. It's a really nice, juicy, fruity, tart, lightly oaked and creamy/round beer. Quite different from the more traditional blaugies and fantome beers.
Overall: the Blaugies and Fantome stand together as belgian classic saisons, the House beer acts as a transition between the group, and the Tired Hands beer is the modern American saison that feels akin to hazy IPA - like a hazy IPA/Saison crossbreed.
2022/03/25: Tasting TH beer. Tastes incredible. I'm really happy where this one is now. There is a peach/fruit/candy like quality to the beer with a fluffy and full bodied mouthfeel that is intercepted by an assertive but not over-powering carbonation, and cut through by an acidity that is really refreshing. The carbonation sort of cascades through the full mouthfeel of the beer. The flavour is also barnyard like, with a funkiness and rustic grain character that I really enjoy. I honestly don't know how to improve this beer from where it is now. I think I need a professional brewer to help analyze it for me. I wish I could have this regularly.