Tweaking saison colour

[supertonio]

Hi,

I will soon be planning to make my first saison and I was wondering how to get a lovely orange hue to this.

I have Dingemans pils as my base malt but was a bit stuck when it came to the colour.

Farmhouse Ales indicates there are some that use amber malt, do you think this is the way forward?

Any help is appreciated.

 

[AJ80]

You could always do an extended boil which will caramelise the wort - or boil down some of your first runnings into a syrup. Probably not authentic, but will certainly have an impact on colour (and flavour).

 

[hijukal]

You could try a small amount of dehusked/debittered black malt. It should darken and add an orange or red colour, depending on the amount used.

I have a saison recipe in Beersmith and added some debittered black malt to show the difference. There's 0%, 0.5%, 2.5%:

It shouldn't change the flavour significantly. Do note that I usually find the resulting colour darker than what Beersmith suggests, so maybe a 0.25% inclusion is a safer bet.

 

[neonmeate]

saisons don't need to be amber. pipaix, regal are but most modern hoppy/zippy ones are very pale. they should be dry. boiling down some first runnings s mentioned above can add some colour and caramel flavours. or try 50% vienna 45% pils and 5% carared or something like that if you want a sweeter maltier beer.

 

[anthonyUK]

It might be hard to believe but the yeast will contribute something to the colour.
I've use the same grain bill for both lager and Saison where the Saison is noticeably darker and the only difference was yeast.

 

[DeGarre]

I sometimes get orange beer when I have 15-17 EBC and use crystal to get there.

See here it going more to coppery, at around 20 ebc:

 

[Adr_0]

What sort of gravity are you aiming for? I ask this because a 1075/1080 beer will be a lot darker than a 1040 beer even if you only use 100% pils malt.

Can you add some Munich, say 10-15%?

 

[supertonio]

Thanks for all the replies.

Cant really be bother boiling X amount and then adding back so just really looking to add a bit of something to influence the colour without affecting the taste too much.

Was planning on a SG of around 1.045 - 1.050 cause dont want it too high due to high attenuation. I can add munich to the grist do you think this will help the colour. I also have some vienna, could I use this too?

 

[anthonyUK]

For colour without much flavour look for one of the German dehusked grains e.g. Carafa I.

 

[supertonio]

What sort of percentages do you thinkg for carafa etc.

Good to see someone in the uk on here...dont have to wait 10 hrs for a reply!!

 

[anthonyUK]

Good to see someone in the uk on here...dont have to wait 10 hrs for a reply!!

Oops :blush:
I was out last night for a few unremarkable beers in London. At £5 a pint too :angry:

For a normal size batch, anything upto about 250g should be enough.