Homebrew Session: Saison Part 2c – Recipe Formulation: Hops

Author: The Rabid Brewer

This is Part 2c 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 covers hops.

Hop Selection

My decision process for hop selection was simple. Both Farmhouse Ales and the BJCP style description for saison note that Kent or Styrian Goldings are the typical goto hops, but  noble hops such as Saaz and Hallertau are also used. My freezer is crammed with hops, and having not used any in the last 3 months, I decided to limit my selection to what I had on hand.

Well, I had all of these options on hand! But, I had almost a pound of Hallertau and it’s a hop I don’t have a ton of experience with, so I felt it would be a good choice for those reasons alone. Cementing the decision was the recipe I was borrowing also used Hallertau.

Hops in need of a brew day (or two or three!)

Hopping Schedule

So what hopping schedule to use?

The BJCP says that saison are “well hopped” and that “hop bitterness may be moderate to high.” Markowski says that hop character can be “assertive” and that it “helps define the refreshment aspect of a classic saison.” He also suggests that a typical hopping schedule might follow that of a pale ale with multiple late additions for both flavor and aroma.

I’ll admit it right now: I’m a hop head, so I typically like lots of late additions in hoppy beers. I’ve tried examples of saison that were heavily hopped and enjoyed them immensely. Thus, I was tempted to go to town with late additions to really give the beer some hop character. However, I felt that with this first being my first attempt at a saison that I’d learn more striving for balance. I decided to go for some definite hop assertiveness, but to keep it in check to allow both the malt and yeast derived characteristics to come through.

So in addition to a standard 60 minute bittering charge, I used a pretty typical late hop strategy consisting of one flavor addition at 15 minutes and one aroma addition at 0 minutes. So, why 15 and 0 and not  something else? Markowski suggests the flavor hop charge at 15-20 minutes and the aroma hop at 1 to 2 minutes. Based partly on experience and partly on preference, I decided to go later to preserve more of the volatile essential oils that contribute to flavor and aroma.

And what of dry-hopping?

Although Saison Dupont was traditionally dry-hopped and there are some fine modern examples that also use dry-hopping to wonderful affect, I decided to forgo dry-hopping for now. If after the beer is finished I think it could use some more hop character, I can always change my mind.

Bittering

Next question: how much to add?

For bittering, that’s a fairly easy question to answer. IBUs (International Bittering Units) are a measure of bitterness in a finished beer. The IBU range given by the BJCP for a saison is 25-45 and by Markowski is 18-32. In order to finalize a target IBU, it’s important to understand what this range of values is trying to tell us.

A range is used because some beers are simply less bitter than others, but also because beers that are higher in alcohol often require higher IBUs to achieve the same perceived bitterness. Thus, if one were to take a recipe for a 5% ABV saison and bump up the base malt to get to 6% ABV, the bittering charge would also need to be increased to maintain the same perceived? The simple way to calculate this is to maintain the same BU/GU ratio. This is the ratio of IBUs to OG. Maintaining this ratio means that as OG goes up, so must the IBUs to maintain the same perceived bitterness.

Why is this important? It’s important because the BU/GU ratio can tell you more about the level of perceived bitterness than the actual measured IBUs. The problem with most sources that give a range of IBUs is that they don’t tell you where that variance is coming from (whether it’s due to different examples of the style having different perceived bitterness or if it’s due to different examples having different alcohol levels of the same perceived bitterness.) So, it’s important to keep this in mind while finalizing a target IBU (or if the recipe needs to be tweaked in the future.)

Having said all that, the recipe I’m borrowing targets 27 IBU at an OG = 1.060 for a BU/GU = 0.45 (27/60.) 27 IBUs is toward the lower end of the BJCP range but towards the upper end of Markowski’s range.  I.e., it’s smack in the middle and thus a pretty good place to start. A BU/GU of 0.45 is comparable to a typical American Blonde or Wheat beer. Not on the order of a pale ale, but enough to balance the malt.

Another important aspect of IBUs is that they are quantitatively determined by lab analysis of a finished beer. When using a program such as BeerSmith (or when calculating them on your own) IBUs in a recipe are just estimates of what the final IBUs will be. Factors such as wort gravity, boil volume, hop alpha acid, age and utilization all determine the final IBUs. There have been a number of formulas used to predict final IBUs among which are those developed by Tinseth, Rager and Garetz.  Through experimentation, I have found that in my system, the Tinseth formula yields the best results. BeerSmith uses Rager as the default, which seems to get closer to the IBUs given in the recipes in Jamil’s book, but I’m using fine mesh hop bags to contain my hop matter, so my utilization is a bit lower.

Perceived Bitterness and Water

The only other factor I consider when determining a target IBU is my water profile. Water high in sulfate will accentuate bitterness. The BJCP style guidelines note, “High carbonation, moderately sulfate water, and high attenuation give a very dry finish with a long, bitter, sometimes spicy aftertaste. The perceived bitterness is often higher than the IBU level would suggest.”

Often you’ll see gypsum being added for it’s sulfate contribution in things like American Pale Ales and American IPAs. My water is fairly soft and a bit alkaline, so I decided to target a higher sulfate level. I won’t get into those details here as I’ll be covering my water profile and adjustments in a later part of this series. Suffice it to say that since I was going for higher levels of sulfate I didn’t think I needed to target a higher IBU to increase perceived bitterness.

Bottom line, I targeted 27 IBUs using Tinseth with a BU/GU=0.45. Most of that will come from the 60 minute bittering charge and is easily dialed in using BeerSmith.

Hop Flavor and Aroma

Late additions provide much less in bittering and much more in flavor and aroma. However, unlike IBUs that are largely determined by the Alpha Acid (AA) percentage of a given hop harvest (and always given when hops are purchased,) flavor and aroma are less quantitatively determined. There is some work in the literature looking at aroma units as a quantitative measure of flavor/aroma similar to bittering units for bittering, but as of today, it is not standardized or utilized in the industry.

Markowski suggests 0.5-0.6 ounces per 5 gallons flavor addition and 1-1.25 ounces for aroma. Jamil’s recipe had a single aroma charge of 0.75 ounces. I decided to go with 0.5 ounces for flavor and 0.75 ounces for aroma. I can always dry-hop later if the hop character needs a boost.

Summary

Here’s my final decision based on my 3.9% AA Hallertau hops:

• Bittering: 2 oz at 60 minutes for 23.8 IBUs (TInseth)
• Flavor: 0.5 oz at 15 minutes for 3 IBUs (TInseth)
• Aroma: 0.75 oz at 0 minutes for 0 IBUs (TInseth)

Total: 26.7 IBUs

Next time, we’ll talk a look at those single celled beasties that turn maltose into beer: yeast.