Wednesday, October 27, 2010

T'is the Holiday Saison 2010

Brew #:25
Brew Date: October 27, 2010

Recipe based on that developed for the mini-mash version of Brother Levonian saison ale.

Ingredients
6 lbs extra-light dry malt extract
2.0 lbs Vienna malt
1.0 lb flaked wheat
0.5 lb flaked oats
12.0 oz sugar
3.0 oz Saaz hops @ 60 min.
0.5 oz Glacier hops @ 60 min
19 g. (0.67 oz) Glacier hops @ 30 min.
0.75 oz Glacier hops @ 5 min.
1.0 oz Saaz hops @ 0 min.
8.0 oz honey, @ 0 min.
0.5 oz fresh tangerine peel @ 0 min
0.25 tsp black pepper @ 0 min
0.25 tsp turmeric @ 0 min
2 vials of White Labs WLP565 Saison Ale Yeast
0.5 oz Kent Goldings, dry hopping


Procedure
Placed grains in 1.3 gals of 151F water and held at between 151F and 170F for 70 mins.  Sparged into boiling kettle with 1 gal of 170F water, to make 6 gals in boil.
Added malt extract and sugar, and brought to boil.
Added 60-minute hops, and proceeded to add hops at times indicated above.
At minute 0, turned off heat and added the honey, 1.0 oz Saaz hops, tumeric, pepper, and tangerine peel.
Cooled wort to 82F, racked to fermenter and pitched yeast.

Gals in fermenter: 4.5
O.G.: not taken
F.G.: not taken

Fermentation
10/27 Pitched yeast at 82F.  Set to ferment with FermWrap to keep temperature above ambient.
11/13 Racked to secondary fermenter, with addition of dry hops.  I would have preferred to have done it a few days sooner, but I had a bad cold.
11/22 Very occasional bubbles through airlock.  Fermentation or evaporation?
12/23 Racked to keg.  Rather later than I would have liked, but I was sick for two weeks and figured it wouldn't be prudent to deal with the beer in that state.   Tasted beer, a bit more bitter than I would have liked in the style.  May  mellow out with time, cooling, and carbonation.

Now, to get it carbonated in time for our New Year's Eve party....

Gals. in Keg:  around 4.