BeerBorg

I really enjoy this style of beer. But with most Saison yeast being able to ferment out an old shoe, most Saisons end up in the 7%+ range. That's just not a table beer.
Had my first pour from this yesterday, it's not going to last long. Nice Pilsner malt sweetness up front followed by tart Saison yeast profile on the back side and at just over 4% I can enjoy a few of them.
It was going to be 1oz Tettnang at 15 and 1oz at flame out, but someone had heat sealed a Hopunion package with just .35oz in it.
I don't know yet if I'd change anything next time and I have 5 gallons to decide.

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Le Petite Saison
Brewer: Naked Cat Brewery
Asst Brewer: Those Danm Cats!
Style: Saison
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 8.63 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.76 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.031 SG
Estimated Color: 3.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 24.1 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 82.7 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
4 lbs 11.2 oz Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 71.5 %
15.0 oz White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM) Grain 2 14.3 %
10.4 oz Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 3 9.9 %
4.5 oz Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 4 4.3 %
0.25 oz Magnum [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 12.9 IBUs
1.35 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 6 11.1 IBUs
1.0 pkg French Saison (Wyeast Labs #3711) [50.28 Yeast 7 -


Mash Schedule: BIAB, Light Body
Total Grain Weight: 6 lbs 9.1 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Saccharification Add 36.47 qt of water at 151.0 F 147.9 F 90 min
Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 7 min 168.0 F 10 min

Edit: I used Bella Saison yeast for this, BeerSmith does not list it.

Looks interesting! There's a lot to be said for lighter beers like this, and they can have as much flavor as higher gravity ones, with care in planning. My wife is diet-conscious, and one of the 100-calorie beers that I brew for her is a Belgian pale ale. In the most recent version, in a 2.5 gallon batch, I used 1.2 lb Vienna, 0.4 lb Biscuit malt, 0.5 lb Honey malt, 0.4 lb Maris Otter, 0.5 lb Pilsen DME, 0.25 oz Fuggles + 0.25 oz Goldings hops in 45' boil, 0.25 oz Saaz hops in 10' boil, 1/4 tsp coriander & 1/4 tsp cinnamon for subtle background flavors, and T-58 yeast. I'll need to try your saison too!

A good English mild is a nice low abv session beer too. Boat loads of flavor if done right and you use a good yeast like West Yorkshire and let it shine instead of being 'Merican and trying to suppress it.

With a SG of 1.032 and FG of 0.999 the Saison comes in at 99.7 calories, just where the misses would like it.

I really like that grain bill of your Belgian pale. I'm going to load it into BeerSmith and play around with it a little. Thanks!

Jeff,

In BeerSmith Mobile, I built the Belle Saison ad a dry yeast with 200 Billion cells and the specs of the WY3711 and it's been pretty spot on.

I had this last night after Paul's Lemon Saison and found this beer to be much more in my ballpark. The aroma was strong and has that "saison smell" to me which says dank, horse blanket and wet grass so I expected it to taste the same. I was wrong as the taste was much more subdued than the aroma would have had me believe.

I got the pilsner up front followed by a much mellower yeast profile. I found this to be enjoyable but just on this side of what I like to drink. Meaning, one was good but I don't think I'd drink a lot of it. It seems like sometime my taste buds are expanding to new ranges, etc. and at other times I have a small box of what I like to drink - go figure.

Thanks for the share, Jeff!

I might have to try this one. I did a kit - Petite Siason and thought it was pretty... well I'll keep it clean. I'll just say I dumped most of it. This one looks a little friendlier than the kit.

BigPapaG wrote:Jeff,

In BeerSmith Mobile, I built the Belle Saison ad a dry yeast with 200 Billion cells and the specs of the WY3711 and it's been pretty spot on.

As far as I'm concerned Bella is a direct replacement for 3711. I just use Bella instead anymore. No hassle.

Unfortunately no dry replacement for Belgian saison (DuPont). I might try a mix of Bella and Danstar Munich though one day. Since I found that Munich makes bubblegum when > 72... so a 75 degree ferment with both might be just right.

EDIT: And this beer sounds right up my alley, just the kind of thing I would enjoy after a long bike ride.

Good stuff Jeff. I have not had many saisons but this seems to be one of the more balanced recipes I've had. It has a nice malt presence along with the saison characteristics. Pretty good stuff!!!

mashani wrote:

BigPapaG wrote:Jeff,

In BeerSmith Mobile, I built the Belle Saison ad a dry yeast with 200 Billion cells and the specs of the WY3711 and it's been pretty spot on.

Since I found that Munich makes bubblegum when > 72... so a 75 degree ferment with both might be just right.

I back this 100%. I pitched Munich a bit to warm, and ended up with a Bazooka Joe wheat.

Finally had Inkleg's Saison and THIS is what it's supposed to be like.
I don't have much of my Lemon Saison left but it may get dumped in the next few weeks. Le Petite just tastes simple. That's not a negative either. It lets the yeast drive the flavor and though I'm not a saison fan, I could drink this.
And, it's wife approved. Jeff, the wife says if you throw it away, throw it's this way.

Glad y'all enjoyed the beer, I was happy to share.
I think you got it right Paul. Simple is a good description of this beer. It's not overwhelming at one end or the other, just a simple enjoyable beer.

Resurrecting an old one here. I picked up the ingredients for this recipe last night, going to brew this tomorrow. This will be the first time I've used Belle Saison yeast. Does it have any nuances I need to know about? ie. ferments fast or slow, need to adjust temps to let it finish, etc. etc. I'm going to pitch around 70 degrees and let it do it's thing. I wasn't planning on controlling the temp at all. Or should I??? Any help here is appreciated!!

I only used it once in a Saison and it ate thru the beer in just a few days. If I remember, in about 3-4 days it was done though I pitched this in the upper 60;s and let it ride to the mid to upper 70's though I am sure many have let it go as high as 85 or more depending on what you want to get out of it.
I probably would pitch no lower than the upper 60's though. You should be more than fine at 70. I suggest a blow off too!

I can get it down a couple more degrees and pitch around 67 or 68. My basement temp shouldn't let it get out of the 70's, even during the height of fermentation. I can always stick it in the fridge and set it for a wort temp of 78 just to make sure it doesn't get too high. And thanks for the blowoff suggestion.