Wheat Saison

[John Sand]

I recently inventoried my supplies. I have an older pack of Bella Saison yeast, a 5# bag labelled "wheat" that I inherited, and a 1# bag of torrified red wheat. I assume the "wheat" is wheat malt. I am thinking of making a Wheat Saison. Saison Wheat? I don't mind much if it doesn't succeed, because I have had these grains and yeast for a couple of years, and otherwise I'll just throw them out. I also have coriander, sweet orange peel and grains of paradise. I might brew 5, split it between two kegs, and spice half. So, my Maitres Belges, what say you?

[Gymrat]

I have used a minimum of 3 pounds of white wheat in every Saison I have made.

[philm00x]

I've not used wheat malt in my saisons, but rather flaked wheat. Just enough to help with the body and provide good head. *giggity*


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[mashani]

Wheat + Saison = Good.

Coriander, sweet orange peel and grains of paradise all = Good.

Bella Saison = Good.

Moral of the story = Good.

[John Sand]

The current plan is to use
5# Pilsner
5# Wheat Malt
About 25 IBU of Saaz, Fuggles, Aramis or Mittelfruh or some combination thereof. All early right now.
.5oz@ Sweet Orange Peel and Coriander at 5 minutes.
Half with Belle Saison, half with Westmalle, fermented at 75, because the basement is about there. I find that half batches don't heat up much. I plan six gallons to end up filling two 2.5s.
Suggestions?

[zorak1066]

ive done wheaton saisons too... they are one of my favs. I like to put the fermenter in a water bath with an aquarium heater and keep it at 74f the whole time with bella saison yeast. it makes some funky funks and esters. theres no real standard for what is or is not in a saison since they were farmhouse ales made from whatever they had on hand basically if memory serves.

saaz or mittlefruh are good... or both. ibus around 30...

I got a saison on the books for soon to brew that is wheat. I might add a little pils and munich too just coz I can. I like mashani's addition suggestion for a Belgian kick ... I might add a little quality honey too at flame out.

[BigPapaG]

The current plan is to use
5# Pilsner
5# Wheat Malt
About 25 IBU of Saaz, Fuggles, Aramis or Mittelfruh or some combination thereof. All early right now.
.5oz@ Sweet Orange Peel and Coriander at 5 minutes.
Half with Belle Saison, half with Westmalle, fermented at 75, because the basement is about there. I find that half batches don't heat up much. I plan six gallons to end up filling two 2.5s.
Suggestions?

Both will be great John.

I love both yeast choices and I also like a simple grain bill for these.

A half ounce of sweet orange peel is fine... Careful with the Coriander... It can get very overpowering very quickly. My preference would be less as a lot can be 'soapy' tasting IMHO.

Trying to remember but I think I was using a couple to a few grams of Coriander... Crushed fresh seed. Somewhere between 2-5g depending on the malt support...

Is that right? Borg, keep me honest here.

[Inkleg]

After my first experience with coriander in a Saison, I might not use it again in that style. I was following a recipe I found which called for 10g of crushed seed. The Bella Saison yeast dried it out and made the coriander way overpowering. If I use it again it will be starting in the 1-2g range and see how it goes.

I just used 5g in a Wheat beer using WLP400 and that's just about right for my taste.

[John Sand]

There are those who eschew spices altogether, getting those flavors from yeast instead. I can always spice the Westmalle part in the fermenter, even the keg. I'll consider it and update this thread. I do agree that much too little is better than a little too much. I would like to drink it this summer.

[philm00x]

A half a teaspoon of ginger root in 5 gallons gives my saison just the right crisp spice note I like in the style. It tends toward a lemony flavor when it ferments so if you use citrusy hops or citrus peel it really brings it out. Or as you said, you can ferment colder and try to coax phenolics out.


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[mashani]

Yeah the spices are kind of a personal thing too. Especially the coriander. That 1/2oz of coriander to me might not taste soapy or be overpowering, but to someone else might be totally whacked.

A few years back I made a Ginger saison using some ginger tea packets (the stuff is like granulated crystalized ginger) from my LAFS that was more on the whacked side of things - it ended up more like one of those alcoholic ginger beers you can get these days. It was something like 55g equivalent as I used them as my "candi sugar" as such. (that is something like 12x or more then philm00x mentioned above in equivalency I think). I drank it, and actually liked it for the most part when I was in the right kind of mood - but it was not what I had intended. It it was not "refreshing", it was intense to drink and not something I wanted to drink all the time by any means. I don't know what I was thinking when I started tossing a bunch of those packs in. Although I do crazy stuff, I am usually a bit more careful then that.

[bpgreen]

I could be wrong, but I think the coriander/soap thing is something that only certain people taste.

[BigPapaG]

I could be wrong, but I think the coriander/soap thing is something that only certain people taste.

I believe you are correct sir...

In the same way that Citra or Brambling Cross hops remind people of cat pee.

And as has been discussed in other threads, some people are super-tasters for certain specific things and the number of parts per million of an ingredient or compound can be very low compared to that of others.

[John Sand]

Brewing this now. I had only 4# wheat malt, I added 1# red torrified wheat. Using new equipment, 10 gallon cooler mash tum, homemade BIAB bag, corona mill.

[John Sand]

Well, I forgot to add the orange peel. I can do it later. The wheat absorbed and held more water than I'm used to, so I am a little high on gravity and low on volume. I guess I could have sparged. Maybe next time check gravity halfway through the boil.