Grains and adjuncts for saison

[Sunfire96]

That's super helpful, thank you!! If you did 2 lemons per 2.5 gallons, I think I could probably get away with 1 whole lemon for 1.5 gallons. Do you remember what hops you used for this brew? Glad to hear that the lemon/citrus came through, but I'm curious if the citrus was from the hop variety? I'm planning on using 100% cascade, which I'm hoping will complement the lemon. Thanks again for the great advice

 

[Megary]

I only used Nelson Sauvin, which usually gives me more of a white wine/slight fruit flavor. The lemon/citrus was definitely from the lemons.

For what it's worth and to highlight my failure as a brewing scientist, I used my house well water which starts with a HCO3 = 143. I would normally use about .5-.75tsp of Lactic acid to get my full volume (≈5gal) mash pH in the 5.4-5.5 range. Determining how much acid is contributed by 2 cut up lemons was beyond my chemistry skills so I just took John Rowley on faith. Not exactly good form on my part.

When I do this again in a few months, I plan on keeping the temperature down on the Belle Saison fermentation with the hope that this will lower the phenolic character of the yeast. If here was anything wrong with the end result it is that I had a lot of competing flavors between the lemons and the yeast. I do wonder if mashing with lemons wouldn't be better suited for an American Wheat beer where the blank canvas might highlight the lemon/citrus and make for a great summery, session beer. Lots of brewing to do!

If you try this, please keep us posted.

Cheers!

 

[Sunfire96]

My tap water also has high HCO3, so I usually brew with RO water. I remember reading a brulosophy experiment about low mash pH not affecting final flavor to a discernible degree, so I'm optimistically not worried about adding too much acid. I played around with the water calculator, and even tripling the citric acid addition, the mash pH was projected over 5.0. I will definitely update about my experience, brew day is tomorrow!

Brulosophy link for anyone interested: http://brulosophy.com/2017/01/30/wa...he-impact-of-low-mash-ph-exbeeriment-results/

 

[Steve Ruch]

I'm doing some last minute rethinking of my recipe (dangerous, I know, but I do it every time :/) Would adding 1/4 - 1/2 of a fresh lemon to the mash lower the pH too much? I would like some subtle lemon flavor, and I'm not sure 1 tbsp of lemon juice will carry it through, even in a 1.5 gallon batch. I don't want to enter the realm of sours, just a light lemon freshness to complement the tartness of the voss. And/or some lemon zest in the last 5 minutes of the boil?

I've had good luck adding lemon zest to steep after the boil.

 

[Steve Ruch]

Another thing to keep in mind is that saisons were brewed with whatever grains were available at each individual farm, so pretty much whatever grains you like would work.

 

[Sunfire96]

Zested one lemon, then chunked it up and added to the mash. Added the zest 5 minutes left in the boil. It smelled great.

 

[Bubba Wade]

My favorite adjunct is Louisiana Ribbon Cane Syrup. This is an unrefined syrup that is made by boiling ribbon cane juice down in an open vat. Much more character than plain sugar syrup, but absent of some of the harsher flavors of molasses. I use it as about 10-15% of the fermentables.

It’s hard to find outside of Louisiana. But, as a bonus, it’s also really good on biscuits.

 

[Sunfire96]

My favorite adjunct is Louisiana Ribbon Cane Syrup. This is an unrefined syrup that is made by boiling ribbon cane juice down in an open vat. Much more character than plain sugar syrup, but absent of some of the harsher flavors of molasses. I use it as about 10-15% of the fermentables.

It’s hard to find outside of Louisiana. But, as a bonus, it’s also really good on biscuits.

I saw your post about it in another thread. Looks tasty!

 

[Bubba Wade]

I saw your post about it in another thread. Looks tasty!

Yes, I brewed a batch of Belgian Strong Dark Ale this weekend. I used 1.5 pounds of syrup in a 2.5 gallon batch.

 

[hundel]

Let me recommend Loral hops in your recipe. This hop gave my saison lemon and pepper notes that felt like a match made in heaven for a saison. Disclaimer: I have not brewed a saison with lemon but do add orange peels and coriander.

 

[^Tony^]

I love spelt saison though I have never used it myself. I HAVE used honey malt between 5 and 10%. Love it.

I've used rice and corn before with decent results. Both add a smooth sweetness (corn more so than rice) and the corn especially adds a kind of lager-esk sweetness to compliment things like rye or spelt in a saison.

My fav. saison addition is coriander. I use at least a little in every batch. If you bottling use less (3-4 g) than if you're kegging (6-7 g is surprisingly subtle after force carbing 5 gallons to 12 PSI in a corny keg).

If you like lemon/lime tartness try corn, Motueka hops, and S-05 fermented at 62-62 F. I do a cream ale with these 3 and it most definitely had a pleasant tart lemon/lime finish to it.