Saison d'Olivia (Blood Orange, honey, and ginger)

[philm00x]

My first child will be born soon, and I've spent some time trying to come up with a recipe for a beer to celebrate her birth with. Since she will be born in the first month of spring, I thought that a saison would be appropriate. Also in keeping with the theme of having a daughter, the saison was modeled after the three things little girls are made of: sugar, spice, and something nice. So, all of that said, Saison d'Olivia will be a Belgian saison using blood oranges, ginger, and honey. Something light, refreshing, and full of character. Tentatively, this is what I'm looking at:

Recipe: Saison d'Olivia
Brewer: Mr. Rufus Brewing Co.
Asst Brewer:
Style: Saison
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 3.25 gal
Post Boil Volume: 2.60 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 2.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 2.25 gal
Estimated OG: 1.061 SG
Estimated Color: 5.0 SRM
Estimated IBU: 31.4 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 72.0 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
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Amt Name Type # %/IBU
2 lbs 8.0 oz Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 43.5 %
2 lbs 8.0 oz Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 2 43.5 %
4.0 oz Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 3 4.3 %
1.00 oz Orange Peel, Sweet (Mash 30.0 mins) Spice 4 -
0.38 oz Styrian Goldings [5.40 %] - First Wort 9 Hop 5 18.5 IBUs
0.25 oz Styrian Goldings [5.40 %] - Boil 15.0 mi Hop 6 5.2 IBUs
8.0 oz Honey [Boil for 10 min](1.0 SRM) Sugar 7 8.7 %
0.25 oz Ginger Root (Boil 5.0 mins) Herb 8 -
1.00 oz Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice 9 -
0.50 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 10.0 Hop 10 7.7 IBUs
1.0 pkg Belgian Saison (Wyeast Labs #3724) [124. Yeast 11 -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 5 lbs 12.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 8.79 qt of water at 164.7 F 150.0 F 90 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun , 1.91gal) of 168.0 F water
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As you can see, I'm trying to emphasize the blood orange in it, while maintaining a good level of spice and drying it out with the honey. Some of the peel will go in the mash, and some of the peel will go into the boil. The Belgian Saison yeast is for that DuPont character that I really like. I'm using fresh ginger root, and based off of a friend's experience, 1/4 oz should do so as to bring out just enough spice but not overwhelm the citrus. I've got 4 large blood oranges that I will peel cut into sections, and gently mash some of the juice out into a secondary which the beer will be racked onto. I'm using Citra for an aroma steep after flameout to further enhance the citrus aroma of the beer.

I think I'm going to split this bill down the middle to brew a 1 gallon experimental batch, and make tweaks to if I need to before brewing a full 2.5 gallon batch. I have a feeling this one is gonna be good!

[RickBeer]

See how much "sugar, spice and everything nice" (proper wording) you think she has when you're up every 90 minutes for the first X months. And when she poops through her diaper legs...

You know you've got it under control when you can change a messy diaper with one hand and eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with the other. Yum!

And when she first talks, do NOT jump with joy and say stupid things like "she said Daddy". Once they talk they never shut up again.

[braukasper]

You may have to watch that yeast closely. It has a tendency to get stuck. For me it is a great summer time yeast. I would let the temperature get into the 80's. The recipe sounds great. We just got 20 pounds fresh from Florida. Going to play around with your recipe.

[mashani]

You may have to watch that yeast closely. It has a tendency to get stuck. For me it is a great summer time yeast. I would let the temperature get into the 80's. The recipe sounds great. We just got 20 pounds fresh from Florida. Going to play around with your recipe.

Agree. I will just mention that even in the 80s that yeast can get stuck. I use Belgian Saison in the summer when I can get into the 90s if I need to.

My suggestion is go get some Bella Saison on hand. If you can't get the temps up into the mid-upper 80s near the end of active primary fermentation, and it gets stuck between 1.02 and 1.03, I'd toss in the Bella. That will take care of it and you will still get a good bit of the Belgian Saison flavor (but not very much bubblegum, if you want DuPont like bubblegum you have to ferment in the 80s for sure). DuPont lets there stuff go over 90 during primary, and it's their yeast.

The recipe sounds most excellent though.

[Inkleg]

Congratulations on the first born, a joyous occasion. The recipe sounds fantastic and Dave's Yeast suggestions are spot on.

[jimjohson]

from the day she's born till the day she leaves for college, going to be the quickest 18-19 years you've ever seen.

[philm00x]

It is Florida, so the temps have been warmer than anywhere else. I might have to rig up something a little stronger than the heating pad I have in the fridge to bring the temp up to 80+. And keep a couple tubs of damp-rid in there too for all the moisture.

[philm00x]

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1423143788.677987.jpg (95.84 KiB) Viewed 2171 times

Today is the day! I've zested two blood oranges, and grated the ginger. After careful consideration and research, I'm going to let this beer ferment at 68*F as per my usual fermentation temp. After a week, the beer will be racked onto crushed blood oranges and the temperature ramped up to 90*F slowly over the course of a few days. Aiming for dry and citrusy, with a hint of bubblegum from the yeast.

[FrozenInTime]

Looks like a good recipe!

[philm00x]

It's slowly bubbling away in the ferm fridge. I'm raising the temp 1*C (since my STC-1000 is in Celsius) every morning and every evening for the next several days until I get to 30*C (86*F) then rack onto the blood oranges and let it finish. Right now it smells soooooo citrusy in that closet!

[philm00x]

So a week in, and sure enough the gravity is stalled at 1.032. I decided since it's currently not doing much, to rack the beer onto the blood oranges. Temp is now at 32*C (~90*F) so hoping with the extra sugar from the oranges and higher temps that the beer will kick it back into gear. Still tempted to buy a packet of Belle Saison though... One neat thing about this- the juice from the oranges has given the beer a really neat pinkish red hue!

[philm00x]

So today I pitched a pack of Belle Saison and brought the temp of the chamber down to 25*C- what Fermentis is currently stating as the upper limit for fermentation temperature, but is not definitively known.

The beer had a pretty decent pellicle floating on top and it smelled very good. There's a crispness in the flavor from the combination of citrus and ginger.

At this point, the gravity is at 1.010 and it is still actively fermenting but I want to speed the process up a bit and get it down nice and low so that I can bottle it this week. With the remaining sugars, I'm hoping it gets down close to 1.000 or maybe a touch less.

[philm00x]

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1425863484.947485.jpg (123.62 KiB) Viewed 2099 times

I absolutely love how this beer turned out. Citrusy, tangy, dry, fizzy, slightly tart... It's perfect! I'm actually glad it didn't finish drier than it did because it might be too harsh if it had.

Edit: I also want to share some wisdom learned from the experience of brewing this beer... DON'T FEAR THE PELLICLE!! This beer developed a pellicle after being racked onto the blood oranges and then the temperature being ramped up to 90*F. The yeast slowly chomped away and did their job. The flavor of the beer was not affected negatively. All is good. RDWHAHB!