Saison Quatre

Still on a quest to brew a great saison, I gave WLP 568 Belgian Saison Blend try. The yeast is a blend of a classic saison ale strain (565 Dupont?) and a Belgian ale strain. The Belgian strain is likely intended to speed up attenuation given the classic saison strain's infamous sluggishness towards the end of fermentation.

Having already brewed saisons with the two most popular yeasts, WLP 565 (Dupont) and Wyeast 3711 French saison, I was interested to see how the 568 yeast blend compared in performance and character in the finished beer.

One problem with using a yeast blend like 568 is that when making a starter, the multiple strains present in the blend likely do not multiply by equal amounts. As a result the yeast pitched from the starter contains a different ratio of the strains than was originally intended by the manufacturer. In this beer I ended up detecting a lot more of the Belgian strain's fruity characteristics than I did the saison strain's spicy pepper.

As far as fermentation and attenuation are concerned, the 568 worked like a champ. From 1.056 to 1.007 in five or six days at 74°F. One mistake on my part was attaching a Brew Belt to the fermenter once the beer reached 1.010 in order to ensure complete attenuation. As I intended, it ramped the temperature up to 85°F, but in hindsight that is above the recommended threshold for the Belgian ale yeast in the blend and I think ended up really intensifying its characteristics in the finished beer. Though it was only during the last several gravity points, I think it did stress the yeast a bit. While high temperatures like that are desirable for the 565 strain alone, I don't think they are appropriate for the blend.

In the past few months I've brewed a couple beers using 100% distilled water and mineral/salt additions. Gordon Strong is a big proponent of this technique in his new book, and it led me to be curious as to what kind of differences using distilled water instead of my filtered and treated tap water would make in my finished beers. This saison was the second beer I brewed using distilled water. Both beers have turned out well and I am going to continue brewing some beers this way until I get a good handle on whether its a worthwhile technique for me or not.

The grain bill and hopping for this recipe were loosely based on the Raison D'Saison recipe in Brewing Classic Styles. I replaced a portion of the table sugar with honey and used WLP 568 yeast instead of the recommended 565.

Tasting Notes

• Aroma: Flowery with light fruit esters (pineapple? apple?). Some alcohol as it warms.
• Appearance: After about six weeks in the serving keg it has become brilliantly clear. Light gold with a white head.
• Flavor: Light pilsner malt up front with some fruitiness reminiscent of pineapple, white grape, and apple. Mild hop bitterness present just enough to be noticeable. Finishes dry with a hint of sweetness that I think might be from alcohols. Maybe a little cidery. My least favorite part of this beer is the finish. Its long an lingering with a broad earthiness that keeps it from seeming crisp.
• Mouthfeel: light with mild alcohol warming. Prickly carbonation.

Overall

Aside from the finish that I find a little offsetting for the style, this turned out to be a decent beer. Its not one that I would brew again, but maybe one that I will build off of. I think the yeast blend could make a good saison if the recipe is right and the fermenation temperature is properly maintained as recommended by White Labs (70°F - 80°F). I also think that I am starting to dislike the over-use of simple sugars in some saisons and Belgian beers. Sometimes, to me, it can leave a little bit of a cidery character in the beer that I don't enjoy. In the future I will likely reduce the simple sugars a little and focus more on generating fermentability in the mash.

Saison Quatre

Saison

Type: All Grain	Date: 5/10/2011
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal
Boil Size: 8.14 gal
Boil Time: 90 min
Final Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal	Brewhouse Efficiency: 73.00
Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU 6 lbs 12.0 oz Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 56.9 % 2 lbs 8.0 oz Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 21.1 % 12.0 oz Wheat Malt, Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 6.3 % 5.9 oz Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 4 3.1 % 5.9 oz Munich Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain 5 3.1 % 2.1 oz Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain 6 1.1 % 1.70 oz Hallertauer [4.30 %] - Boil 90.0 min Hop 8 25.2 IBUs 0.25 oz Hallertauer [4.30 %] - Boil 45.0 min Hop 9 3.2 IBUs 0.75 oz Hallertauer [3.80 %] - Boil 0.0 min Hop 10 0.0 IBUs 12.0 oz Sugar, Table (Sucrose) (1.0 SRM) Sugar 7 6.3 % 4.0 oz Honey (1.0 SRM) Sugar 12 2.1 % 1.0 pkg Belgian Style Saison Ale Yeast Blend (White Labs #WLP568) [946.36 ml] Yeast 11 -
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.056 SG	Measured Original Gravity: 1.056 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.007 SG	Measured Final Gravity: 1.004 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.5 %
Bitterness: 28.4 IBUs
Est Color: 5.4 SRM
Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge	Total Grain Weight: 11 lbs 13.9 oz
Sparge Water: 5.62 gal	Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F	Tun Temperature: 148.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE	Mash PH: 5.20
Mash Steps Name Description Step Temperature Step Time Mash In Add 16.31 qt of water at 157.2 F 148.0 F 75 min
Carbonation and Storage
Carbonation Type: Keg	Volumes of CO2: 2.8
Notes
Used Distilled Water Mash: 1.5 gypsum. 1.5 cacl , 2gm Baking Soda Sparge 1 gypsum, 2.5 cacl, 1gm epsom