Over the years I have traditionally done a wit or some variation of a good refreshing summer brew. This year I decided to take on a saison, a Belgian farm-house ale that I have enjoyed for years. Like most Belgian style brews, this beer highlights the yeast above all other flavors and is complemented with a bouquet of understated flavors. Some of those flavors might sound like the recipe to a Belgian wit (grains of paradise, orange peel etc.), but can be used in the Saison as well.
Personally, I will be using some GOP only because I have a little left over and I am just going to throw them in, but it shouldn’t be enough to really make much of an impact. I was thinking that I would also use some orange peel just to get some citrus notes, but I would like to keep all these flavors on the back burner for this brew.
With the yeast being the key component to the brew, temperature is going to be essential here. I am going to do some scouting out on temperature predictions for the next few weeks to hopefully get a hot spell where I can ensure that I will get an 80+f temp for 5-7 days. That is going to be key to getting all of the esters and complexity out of the yeast.
I am still researching the exact recipe, but I would like to use some of the ingrdients that I have left over from brews past so I will use some 2 row and probably get some pilsner in there as well. Most of the recipes I’ve seen add some corn sugar to the wort, but I am not sure about that, I would like to be on the lower end of the 5%-8% ABV scale I’ve seen so I shouldn’t need it.
More to come, any advice on this style would obviously be greatly appreciated.
