First Saison - Advice needed

[Trevandjo]

Would you still recommend crash chilling a Saison at the end of ferment or is should I go straight to keg?

 

[mje1980]

Straight to keg Imho.

 

[Adr_0]

You don't NEED to cold crash, and give it a bit more gas than usual. Cloudy and high carbonation is best for this style.

 

[manticle]

I cold condition mine.

 

[sponge]

CC whilst carbing at serving pressure.

 

[Trevandjo]

Well I went ahead taking some advice and leaving others. I kept the mash simple but low, I cold conditioned, I kept the sugar. Fg reached 1.003 which left me with 5.9 ABV. First tasting from the keg smells great, pours great, tastes as I expected but, not really surprisingly, leaves a dry aftertaste on my palate as well as an alcoholic taste which I didn't expect. I'm still very happy with the beer - but - on my quest for the perfect beer, next time I will either 1. Lower the sugar. 2. Alter slightly the mash schedule to add a higher (late 60s) mash after about 40 mins and/or 3. Try wlb Saison 002 (as recommended at Bendigo Craft Beer Festival).

But for now this is beaut.

Cheers,
Trev

 

[Adr_0]

What were your fermentation temps like? Did you start warm?

5.9% shouldn't really have any offensive (or even warming) alcohol notes. Theoretically table sugar added at the start of fermentation vs invert sugar midway through shouldn't contribute to higher alcohols, but anecdotally people may have noticed it.

 

[Spiesy]

What yeast did you use?

 

[Trevandjo]

What were your fermentation temps like? Did you start warm?

Pitched at 22 and let rise over a week to 27. The alcoholic taste isn't bad at all it isn't very strong either, just unexpected.

What yeast did you use?

I used Wlb saison 1 which was all you guys had in stock at the time. It is reported to have problems with stalling but I didn't find this at all.

The sugar I added was added as a 5 min boil addition.

 

[Spiesy]

Yeah, I used WLP565 Saison 1 on my first Saison which is currently on tap. I had absolute no issues with fermentation, and I fermented within the recommended range 18-22 (?). It actually came out quite bright, despite supposedly not being a great flocculator.

But, it does have some of that harsh, phenolic Belgian vibe to it, which is prefer it not to have.

Will also try WL566 next.

 

[Trevandjo]