Author: The Rabid Brewer
This is Part 2a in my series covering homebrewing a saison. Use the following links to read other parts in the series. An inactive link means that part has yet to be published.
- Part 1 – Introduction
- Part 2a – Recipe Formulation: Overview
- Part 2b – Recipe Formulation: Grain
- Part 2c – Recipe Formulation: Hops
- Part 2d – Recipe Formulation: Yeast
- Part 3 – Water Treatment
- Part 4 – Process and Equipment
- Part 5 – Results
This installment gives a short list of resources, my goals, some objective parameters and the final recipe. Details on recipe formulation will follow in subsequent parts.
Resources for Recipe Formulation
Formulating a recipe for most beer styles has never been easier than it is today. A great starting place is the BJCP website which provides guidelines for each style including ingredients. Although some folks are critical of pigeon-holing beers into style boxes, the BJCP is an excellent online resource. Just because something is bounded for ease of understanding, doesn’t mean you have to brew it that way!
Another great reference is Brewing Classic Styles by Jamil Zainasheff. Jamil is a well known and respected homebrewer and has twice won the AHA Ninkasi Award. His book contains award winning recipes for each of the BJCP beer styles. If you were to buy just one homebrew recipe book, this should be the one.
Finally, there are often entire books devoted to a particular style (see the BA/AHA bookstore) and most include recipes. Farmhouse Ales by Phil Markowski covers saison (and biere de garde) in great detail. If you’re interested in saison, this is a must have reference.
What Type of Saison?
So what does all this tell us about formulating a recipe for a saison?
In Farmhouse Ales, Markowski writes that “Saisons defy easy categorization and are sometimes rife with contradiction. Many are light in color, a few are dark, and some are in between. One or two are full-bodied and sweetish, most are extraordinarily dry and fruity. Those who like their beers neatly arranged in narrow categories find defining saison frustrating, to say the least.”
So, the first question to be answered is, “What type of saison?”
I decided my goal wasn’t to try to reproduce any particular saison, but simply to brew something that had much of the character that I like in my favorite versions of the style. This tends to be the lighter, drier ones like Saison Dupont. This deceptively simple choice ends up driving much of the grain bill as well as the mash schedule. In addition, since much of the character of Saison Dupont comes from the yeast, that will also be an important consideration.
Here is how the BJCP defines Style 16C Saison: “A refreshing, medium to strong fruity/spicy ale with a distinctive yellow-orange color, highly carbonated, well hopped, and dry with a quenching acidity.”
They also provide the following objective parameters:
- OG = 1.048 – 1.080
- FG = 1.010 – 1.016
- IBUs = 25 – 45
- SRM = 5 – 12
- ABV = 5 – 8.5%
This tells us that (unlike many Belgian beers) saisons are quite hoppy. Nothing like West Coast IPAs, but 45 IBUs is still a fairly bitter beer. And “well hopped” means more than just IBUs – the measure of bitterness. It also means hop flavor and aroma from late additions in the boil and possible use of dry-hopping.
The OG and FG tells us we’re looking at an apparent degree of attenuation (ADF) of 80-90%. That’s quite high. Consider that of the approximately 80 BCJP styles, around 75% of them have an ADF less than 80% and malty beers are much lower than that. E.g., English style bitters typically end up in the low 70′s and a Scottish Heavy could be down in the mid-60′s.
Getting an ADF into the high 80′s can be difficult. It will require careful formulation of the grain bill, an appropriate mash schedule, proper yeast selection and health as well as ensuring the best possible environment in which the yeast can do their job.
Another important aspect of saison is its “quenching acidity.” Examples of the style will range from thirst-quenching to tart to even slightly sour. Since acidity is measured by pH, this means shooting for a beer with a low final pH. As there is correlation between final pH and mash pH, paying close attention to water, water treatment and how to drive the mash pH in the right direction will be important.
Finally, the BJCP provides lots of helpful information in the ingredients section. Rather than go into those details here, I’ll be referring back to that section as we walk through my thought process in subsequent parts in the series concerning recipe formulation.
Recipe
I’ll cut right to the chase: here’s the recipe I’ll be using for a 5 gallon batch.
Although most of the grain bill and hopping is taken directly from Brewing Classic Styles, I did the due diligence before hand to ensure I would achieve my original goals using this recipe. I’ve also tweaked things a bit here and there to suit my process, concerns and desires. In the next few installments I’ll go into the details of why I chose this recipe, how I dialed it in, and give some options to consider for future iterations.
It’s important for me to keep track of (at least mentally) various options, why I made a particular decision, and if any assumptions were used for various unknowns. That way, I’ll have a good idea of what to change the next time I brew the beer.
Grain
- 10.5# Briess Lesser-Modified Pilsner
- 0.75# German Munich
- 0.75# White Wheat Malt
- 1# Cane Sugar (added in stages during fermentation)
- 2oz CaraMunich
Hops
- Bittering: 2 oz Hallertau at 60 minutes for 23.8 IBUs (TInseth)
- Flavor: 0.5 oz Hallertau at 15 minutes for 3 IBUs (TInseth)
- Aroma: 0.75 oz Hallertau at 0 minutes for 0 IBUs (TInseth)
Yeast
- White Labs WLP568 Saison Yeast Blend
Process
- Step Mash with Sacch Rest <150F assuming 75% Efficiency
- Ferment at 75F-85F
Original Gravity = 1.062
Final Gravity = 1.008
ADF = 85%
ABV = 7%
IBUs = 26
SRM = 5
In the next few parts in this series, I’ll be going into more detail on the various aspects of the recipe. I’ll start with the grain bill, move on to hops and finish up with yeast. From there, I’ll talk a bit about water, then move on to process, both brewing and fermentation.
Brian
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