# Rosella Saison



## indica86 (15/1/15)

I'll be making one of these as soon as I get some more grain. Simple grain bill, bittering hops.
When to add the rosella? Should I throw the calyxs in like a dry hop? You may say rack onto fruit but I don't have the desire to use a secondary vessel.


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## TSMill (15/1/15)

Bird or sauce?


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## indica86 (15/1/15)

calyx


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## TSMill (15/1/15)

Interesting, professor google tells me it is high in anthocyanins, you might be able to brew a beer that prevents gout, not causes it.


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## jlm (15/1/15)

I think a saison is a beer where the yeast does the majority of the work and you can really throw a lot at it (hops, fruit or who-ever) without upsetting the balance too much, but at the same time you may struggle to identify your adjunct through all the esters. 

I've never done anything with rosellas (especially not the birds, despite what parks and wildlife say) but I would crush and make a strong tea/syrup, taste to see its not god awful (especially astringent) and add towards the end of the boil....work from there.

The potency of said adjunct will play a part.........My second last brew where I worked we pulped 1.5kg of fresh ginger and 500g of fresh and frozen lemongrass into 1000L of pretty straight forward saison at 10 min. Ginger was very prominent initially, but settled after packaging quite nicely. Lemongrass was hard to pick up from the get go.

There's only one way to find out what it adds, have a go.


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## iambj (15/1/15)

Personally I don't think Saisons should contains fruit, you should be looking more towards a Flanders.


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## waggastew (15/1/15)

Rosella's are the same as hibiscus/karkade I think?

Are the fresh or dried?

Either way make into a syrup as suggested above, taste, add in secondary.

Lots of info of using dried hibiscus but not so much fresh


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## Lecterfan (15/1/15)

Follow JLM. Especially the last sentence of his post.

And remember that you can do whatever the hell you want to a homebrew saison, just don't expect everyone who follows style guidelines to applaud you decision to call it a saison – but you CAN expect that the flavour of the yeast to be the prominent characteristic of the beer unless you are really going crazy with odd ingredients.

Prost!


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## iambj (15/1/15)

Lecterfan said:


> And remember that you can do whatever the hell you want to a homebrew saison, just don't expect everyone who follows style guidelines to applaud you decision to call it a saison –
> Prost!


Do whatever you like to any style, means something to some of us. Nothing to others.


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## indica86 (15/1/15)

I made a wheat last season with fresh dumped in like dry hop + cordial (home made) in the boil, perhaps I'll go the same.
And not strictly a Saison but a beer made at my house fermented with a saison yeast.

Thanks


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## jlm (15/1/15)

iambj said:


> Personally I don't think Saisons should contains fruit, you should be looking more towards a Flanders.


Personally I think if there's a style that's left that is free from style fascists its saison. OP, brew that beer, get that red hue and tang from the rosellas and send me a bottle.


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## IsonAd (16/1/15)

I recently did a Rosehip and hibiscus saison. Looked nice but I over did it with the tea I used. Came out a bit too tart.

http://cdn.aussiehomebrewer.com/uploads/monthly_12_2014/post-30672-0-14978700-1417421767.jpg


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## iambj (16/1/15)

> 16C. Saison
> Aroma: High fruitiness with low to moderate hop aroma and moderate to no herb, spice and alcohol aroma. Fruity esters dominate the aroma and are often reminiscent of citrus fruits such as oranges or lemons. A low to medium spicy or floral hop aroma is usually present. A moderate spice aroma (from actual spice additions and/or yeast-derived phenols) complements the other aromatics. When phenolics are present they tend to be peppery rather than clove-like. A low to moderate sourness or acidity may be present, but should not overwhelm other characteristics. Spice, hop and sour aromatics typically increase with the strength of the beer. Alcohols are soft, spicy and low in intensity, and should not be hot or solventy. The malt character is light. No diacetyl.
> Appearance: Often a distinctive pale orange but may be golden or amber in color. There is no correlation between strength and color. Long-lasting, dense, rocky white head resulting in characteristic "Belgian lace" on the glass as it fades. Clarity is poor to good though haze is not unexpected in this type of unfiltered farmhouse beer. Effervescent.
> Flavor: Combination of fruity and spicy flavors supported by a soft malt character, a low to moderate alcohol presence and tart sourness. The fruitiness is frequently citrusy (orange- or lemon-like). The addition of one of more spices serve to add complexity. Low peppery yeast-derived phenols may be present instead of or in addition to spice additions. Hop flavor is low to moderate, and is generally spicy in character. Hop bitterness may be moderate to high, but should not overwhelm fruity esters, spices, and malt. Malt character is light but provides a sufficient background for the other flavors. A low to moderate tart sourness may be present, but should not overwhelm other flavors. Spices, hop bitterness and flavor, and sourness commonly increase with the strength of the beer while sweetness decreases. No hot alcohol or solventy character. Substantial carbonation and bitterness give a dry finish with a long, bitter, sometimes spicy aftertaste. No diacetyl.
> ...


Add fruit if you like, I bet you make an great beer but it's not a Saison. A true Saison is all about the yeast, in fact herbs and spices are better kept to a minimum. I love the style.


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## indica86 (16/1/15)

indica86 said:


> And not strictly a Saison but a beer made at my house fermented with a saison yeast.
> 
> Thanks


I asked for opinions as to when to add the fruit.
Not if my idea of a beer fit into a ******* beer judging panel idea of what a style is.
**** off with purist shit.


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## iambj (16/1/15)

indica86 said:


> I asked for opinions as to when to add the fruit.
> Not if my idea of a beer fit into a ******* beer judging panel idea of what a style is.
> **** off with purist shit.


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## indica86 (16/1/15)

indica86 said:


> I'll be making one of these as soon as I get some more grain. Simple grain bill, bittering hops.
> When to add the rosella? Should I throw the calyxs in like a dry hop? You may say rack onto fruit but I don't have the desire to use a secondary vessel.


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## Mattrox (17/1/15)

indica86 said:


> I asked for opinions as to when to add the fruit.
> Not if my idea of a beer fit into a ******* beer judging panel idea of what a style is.
> **** off with purist shit.


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## indica86 (21/5/15)

Yum. Tartness of the rosellas compliments the saison yeast perfectly.


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## Rocker1986 (21/5/15)

Looks nice mate. Not my style flavour wise but I'm not the one brewing and drinking it am I? 

I agree about style guides too.. it's home brewing, not precision brewing. They might be strictly adhered to in competitions or whatever but if you're brewing it solely for your own enjoyment, who the hell cares what goes into it or whether it doesn't fit into the style or whatever? It's your beer. Brew it how you want to brew it. I'm sure there would be quite a number of people who would snub that quick lager method too, but it works.  I'll be brewing a lot more lagers now that I don't have to wait half a fuckin year for the damn things to be ready to drink. :lol:


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## Mardoo (21/5/15)

Looks...lovely :wub:


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## winkle (21/5/15)

Here's one I prepared earlier, strictly speaking a wheat beer with saison yeast again. Beautiful summer beer.


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## BJB (22/5/15)

indica86 said:


> Yum. Tartness of the rosellas compliments the saison yeast perfectly.


Looks great ! So when and how did you add the rosellas? I wouldn't mine giving this a go.


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## indica86 (22/5/15)

I no chill and threw 600g in the cube. 600g was because that is what I had and I weighed it so next time I have a go I know.


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## BJB (22/5/15)

thanks and left it for how long?

how did you do it Winkle?

I have shipoads of them atm.


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## indica86 (22/5/15)

A few days. Not that it makes a lot of difference I think.
The grain bill was very very pale, Pilsner and wheat.


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## BJB (22/5/15)

If you had more would you go more? 600gm would almost be maxing out my cube.

Cheers for your help.


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## indica86 (22/5/15)

This one is good, I'd go 1kg next time - when I have the crop.
But no need as this one is good..


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## Batz (31/10/15)

Can I ask you brewers who have used Rosella's, did you just chuck them in, crush, chop or anything else?


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## Tropico (1/11/15)

I imagine there would be a lot of "wild" things on the Rosellas. Were they blanched, boiled or sanitised in any way first?

About to cold crash my 2nd French Saison (WLP590) and found the first one quite tart. By the end of the keg I absolutely loved it, however I don't know how far you could take the "tart" flavour.

Edit: spelling and punctuation


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## indica86 (1/11/15)

Boiled them and strained the liquid into the mash


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## Tropico (1/11/15)

indica86 said:


> Boiled them and strained the liquid into the mash


Thanks mate.

If I can get my hands on some I'll definitely give it a go. I'd grow some if it wasn't for the fruit flies (I just don't bother providing a home for fruit flies any more).


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