Second chances are tough to come by. Thankfully, homebrewing is more forgiving. Don’t like a batch simply try again! That’s what John did with a new attempt at Saison. A tough but popular style to brew well. We compare last years to the new batch head to head.
First off last years batch is visibly different. Darker. Is that age or recipe? It did t really matter once you tasted it. It had some strong dead yeast character. A touch of oxidation. And a minerally finish the was just plain weird. I described it as hammy.
The new batch was bright and vibrant. A balance between slight acidity and a Belgian phenol and ester character. Where the acidity comes from is hard to say but it works here and works well. The beer is definitely dry as we have come to expect from Belle Saison yeast. Interestingly my Saisons with the same yeast were more restrained when it came to that Belgian character. My best attempt being more citrus like.
It’s interesting to wonder how much the base grist recipe plays in the final product. Seeing as most Saison yeast will take you well down into single digit SG readings one must begin to think that the yeast must be digest some of the dextrins. And if different dextrins are present from different grits you could envision significant variances between beers brewed with the same yeast. More research to be done is suppose.
There you have it. Don’t give up in a style too soon. Taste, learn and rebrew.
BREW ON!
Billy
Thanks for this video. I brewed a Saison this summer with White Labs’ Belgian Saison Blend, at it turned out crappy. That was before I started using a swamp cooler. It probably fermented at 25C. It is bubblegum bomb at first, and has that rough aftertaste. Anyways, I’m glad to see I’m not alone to screw up. Now I just want to brew another Saison.
John
I wish you home brewing redemption with your next saison