Tag: Saison

Small Saison

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Well its been quite a while since I have brewed an all grain, but I need to get the kegs filled. Had some ingredients in the fridge from the last beer I had planned, so we just needed a few things.

This Saison was a bit bigger when I wrote it up, but I think a nice, light easy drinking 4ish % is in order.

  • Small Saison
  • 8lbs 2 row
  • 1lb white wheat
  • 4oz carapils
  • .75oz Target hops @ 60
  • 1oz Saaz @ 5
  • .25 Target @ FO
  • Belle Saison Yeast
  • Mash 155

With a fairly low OG of 1.044 and this yeast, figured I’d mash just a bit higher this time. Anyway, thats it. I’m not adding anything to this.

Learn to Brew Day Saison

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When the Saisons started showing up on shelves I wasn’t a fan of them. Those yeast profiles just were not my thing. But the rest of the dryness, sometimes spiciness really stuck out for me. And I eventually found that I kinda liked them.


So I have brewed a few here and there, and changed some things to get back to where I like this style, since its very hard to find a plain ol’ Saison nowadays. No fruits, no spices, no nothing.

I use a regular old US two row malt. I think it lets the other things like the wheat and Saaz hops poke through a little more. Rye malt is great here as well, just don’t get crazy with it. It would cover up a lot in this bare bones version. 


Get your bittering somewhere in the 25-30 range. Been using Tettnang hops for my smaller batches or Target hops for bigger batches just because of the bigger bang for the buck Alpha. These give a decent amount of that earthy Saison thing without standing out. Saaz hops for the late editions is almost mandatory for me. They seem to work best if kept around the 10-15 minute range.

And probably the most important ingredient in a Saison…the yeast. I’m not one for the big blasts of banana, so I stick with the Belle Saison dry yeast. It only has a bit of background banana, but it gets almost a black pepper and lemon/orange thing going when purposely underpitched. Ferments fairly dry, but not nutz. But it doesnt like to clear all that well. But hey,, thats fine in this beer!

I wouldn’t usually even consider adding fruit, but for some reason raspberry just feels like it would work here. Small amounts though. Raspberry is pretty powerful and this is a very light profiled recipe.

Any way,,, this is what I’ll be brewing this Saturday for the 2020 “Learn to Brew Day” Check out my gallon version.

3 gallon Saison OG 1.054, 30 IBU  
-5 lbs US 2 row
-½ lb crystal 10L
-½ lb  wheat malt red or white (malt,, not flaked wheat)
-1oz tettnang hops @60
-1oz Saaz at 10 min
-¼ packet Belle Saison yeast. (we are trying to stress it a bit for character. Don’t worry, that’s more than enough yeast)
Mash at 150. Ferment a bit higher than normal.. 70F

May not be “traditional” in a strict sense, but it’s what I want in a Saison.

The Beet Saga

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The beet Saison was released this past Friday at Copper State Brewing. 


For this Wort challenge, Copper State made a huge batch of wort, then the local homebrewers were each given enough to make a 5 gallon batch. We could do anything or add anything to the wort to make our beer, Then 4 weeks later the local pro brewers picked the best of the bunch. The winning recipe was to be made and served at Copper State Brewing

My beet Saison was picked as the winner!
I got to go to Copper State and brew it on their system a few weeks ago.  It was fun to get to brew something on a bigger scale, and work on pro equipment.

I had not had a chance to get down there and check on it before it was released, so I was just as surprised at how it turned out as everyone else.

It was just as good as the first small batch! If you can get down there, let me know what you think of it…. Cheers!