Saison Sombre

I've been wanting to brew a Saison for about a year or so, so when I saw that the yeast I've been experimenting with is good for Saisons as well as Biere De Garde, I decided that now's the time to make one.   As I tend to do, though, I wanted to put my own little spin on it.   Saison is considered a "Farmhouse Ale", which is historically just a beer that was brewed in a farmhouse, for farm hands to drink for refreshment and energy.   The more modern versions are a little more "special", and are often quite a bit more alcoholic than the original beers would have been.   Mine is definitely on the modern side.  

After getting bitten a bit by a shortage of Candi Syrup earlier in the year, I wound up buying a whole lot of it when I was able to find some. So I thought I'd use some of that in it, since simple sugars are used to help dry these beers out. I was a big fan of Yazoo's Rye Saison, so I thought the rye character would be nice in it, and had a bit of rye malt left over after brewing the Rye Thing.  After plugging those things into ProMash, I decided that I wanted it more like the color of a Porter, so I added the last of the Carafa I had left over from something I did a while back, and some Caramunich 60 that I bought last year, thinking I would be making a Dubbel last year (I did, but it wound up being part of a partigyle).   So, based on all of that, I should wind up with a wort with some toffee, raisin, caramel, and some spiciness.   I have noticed some black peppery kind of spiciness in the two beers that I have fermented with this yeast, so that should add some interesting characteristics, as well.   I should also get some "earthiness" from the Styrian Goldings, and some more floral spiciness from the Saaz hops. 

For this fermentation, I'll be laying the spurs to the yeast during the later parts of fermentation.   The last two brews I have made with this, I have kept the temperature restrained, and only allowed it to rise to 70F during the last bit of primary fermentation, just to give it a diacetyl rest and keep it fermenting to the end, to dry them out.   Saisons are often fermented above 80F, and the Saison Dupont strain is known to get "stuck" even when fermented as high as 85F.  These temperatures encourage the various esters and phenols that the yeast produces to really come to the fore, and give it the interesting, complex fruity and spicy flavors that saison is known for.    

Saison Sombre

Batch Size (Gal): 6
Total Grain (Lbs): 14.69
Adjunct Sugar (Lbs): 1
Anticipated OG: 1.072
Anticipated SRM: 23.3
Anticipated IBU: 24.0
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70%
Wort Boil Time (min): 90

Grain
74.1% -- 12 lbs. French Pilsen Malt
9.3% -- 1.50 lbs. Fawcett Malted Rye
6.2% -- 1.00 lbs. Franco Belges Caramel Munich 60
1.2% -- 0.19 lbs. Weyermann De-Husked Carafa II
6.2% -- 1.0 lbs. Belgian Candi Syrup D2
3.1% -- 0.5 lbs Fruit Fast Montmorency Tart Cherry Syrup

Hops
1.25 oz. Styrian Goldings (Pellet, 5.20% AA) @ 60 min.
1.00 oz. US Saaz (Pellet, 5.80% AA) @ 0 min.

Extras
Whirlfloc - 1 tablet @ 10 min.

Yeast
Wyeast 3725 - PC Bier De Garde Yeast (repitched slurry)

Water Profile
Clearview, degassed overnight
~1/5 of the water was distilled, to soften the profile some.

Mash Schedule
Sacch. Rest: 70 min. @ 151F
Batch Sparge:  15 min. @ 162F


Notes

• Brewed on Saturday, April 16, 2011
• Totally forgot to add the syrup to the wort.   I guess I'll add it to the fermentor in a couple of days.   On the upside, that should help keep the yeast going, as well as improve the flavor that it gives to the beer.
• I'm still amazed by the fact that with the new pump and chiller, it takes 10-12 minutes to go from a full, rolling boil, to 80F.
• Chilled to around 64F
• Oxygen:  wide open for 50 count
• Pitched at 4:30PM
• OG: 1.061 (minus the syrup)
• 71F and blowing off at 7:00AM, Sunday morning.
• Raised temperature to 73F at 7:00AM Monday morning.
• Added 1/2 lb. cherry concentrate and 1lb. belgian candi D2 syrup boiled with 2 cups of water and then chilled to around fermentation temp.  9:00PM monday.
• Tuesday 7:30AM:  temperature was 74F.  Raised to 75F.
• Wednesday 7:00AM:  raised temperature to 77F.
• Thursday 7:00AM: raised temperature to 79F. 
• Friday 7:00AM: raised temperature to 80F.
• After a week or so at 80F, the temp control was removed and the beer was allowed to return to room temperature (~65F).   It spent 2 or 3 weeks in the primary fermentor, and then was moved to a secondary to warm age for a few weeks.
• Kegged on June 19, 2011