This recipe by Drew Beechum was the inspiration for our Saison Yeast Showdown brew experiment and tasting notes episode. Text below is reprinted with permission from Experimental Homebrewing by Drew Beechum and Denny Conn. Copyright 2014 © Drew Beechum and Denny Conn.
Saison Expérimental
by Drew Beechum
In 2011, a beer like this was brewed at Eagle Rock Brewing Company and pitched with thirteen different yeast strains for presentation to the attendees of the 2011 American Hombrewers Association National Homebrewers Conference. It was quite eye-opening and was an experiment that I encourage you to repeat. Of course, whatever experiment you want to get up to is off to a perfect start with this brew. It is dry, crisp, and refreshing as all get-out.
For 5.5 gallons at 1.048, 22 IBUs, 4.7% ABV
Grain Bill
- 8.75 lbs Pilsner Malt
- 8.0 oz Flaked Wheat
- 8.0 oz Table Sugar
Mash Schedule
- Rest at 150F for 60 minutes
Hops
- 0.35 oz Magnum pellet (12.9% AA) @ 60 minutes
- 0.45 oz Saphir pellet (4.4% AA) @ 10 minutes
Other Ingredients
- 1/2 tablet Whirfloc @ 10 minutes
Yeast
- WY3711 French Saison for flavor experiments
- WLP565 Belgian Saison I for straight or spicy saisons
Additional Instructions
Don’t forget to chill the beer into the lower 60sF before pitching the yeast. Once the yeast is in, keep the beer chugging along in the high 60sF for a day or two and allow it to rise naturally into the low 80sF. You’ll end up with a spicy, but not headache-inducing , beer this way.
Variants
- Jasmine Dragon Saison: My wife loves Jasmine-infused green tea, so one year as a treat for her, I combined my love of saisons with her love of tea. To make it, take a simple saison like the one above and add a tea tincture made by soaking 1/2 cup of jasmine dragon pearl tea in 1 cup of vodka for a week. Shake routinely and add to the keg by taste. Also, enjoy the show as the pearls blossom into beautiful tea flowers.
- Saison Sangreal: California runs amok with produce, and one of my favorite seasonal pieces is the late winter arrival of Moro blood oranges. Drop the Saphir from the recipe above. Make at least 3 liters of blood orange juice; that’s usually 20-25 pounds of oranges. Freeze the juice. Zest 3 of the oranges and add to the kettle whirlpool. After primary fermentation subsides, add the thawed blood orange juice and complete the fermentation.
- Saison Vin: I like associations and stories with my beers, and this one is as simple as French styly name + the French love of wine. This is also the only way you’ll see me using a superconcentrated canned wine kit. They cook the grape must into a thick syrup that is used as brewers use liquid malt extract. Unfortunately, the must ends up tasting cooked and stale, unlike liquid malt extract. For this variant, scale up the pilsner to 10 pounds and the wheat to 1 pound, and drop the sugar. Once the krausen rises in primary fermentation, add one can (48 ounces) of Merlot concentrate. Swirl the fermenter gently and allow the fermentation to complete before adding 2 ounces of French Oak cubes that have soaked in red wine for at least 1 month. Leave the oak in contact for a minimum of 2 weeks.