Take water, right out of the tap, not much going on… now carbonate it and I feel it becomes much more to enjoy…
Sneezles61
well anyway the saison I recently made is good and it had that sweet saison aroma/ flavor when kegged. as Im working through it it is getting a cleaner profile. every time I do this style I promise myself the next one I’ll bottle but then get lazy. I’m thinking thats the key to keeping the profile. Any opinions
The keg of Belgian Saison I had just blew. Timing is right because I need a few empties to fill.
It had a pretty clean taste and time enough sitting to be very clear. Again I am getting kind of a carbonic bite and closer to fizzy than foamy. Not enough to ruin it but in the background. Since I seem to have lost the tag I don’t remember if I primed it or hooked up the CO2. I usually prime them and go light on the sugar since it is easier to hook the gas to get more carbonation than try to tame an overcarbed beer.
Isn’t thats what the Saison style is? So simple a grainbill so the yeast takes the spot light?
Sneezles61
my thought is if they are bottle conditioned they will always have some yeast in the bottle which would give it that saison yeast profile. most of the better store bought saisons are bottle conditioned as are the hefes. I believe its more than just tradition. Heck if I wanted a clean tasting beer I’d brew a pils or cream ale.
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if its fizzy and has a carbonic bite it sounds like its over carbonated
well I use a lot of pilsner malt in mine but maybe wheat the next one. Need to do some research. Ill be popping in to eastern France for a couple days maybe I can try one there and read the bottle
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I hope you have the time and luck to be able to talk with some very old brewer that can explain how they think of what a Saison is! And of course some pictures to share once you get back home… have a notebook for sampling notes. (:
Sneezles61
Totally agree. I’ve shied away from Continental canned hefes and Saisons as a result. Bottle conditioning maintains the yeast character you’re looking for. I know it’s been mentioned above/before but repitching even good healthy saison and hefe yeast leads to less character with each subsequent pitch. Just my experience and .02.
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OK still have a bit of the last saison in the keg and it is crystal clear now and has lost all the saison aroma and flavor. Its actually tasting like a nice pils. Im not surprised I guess since its all pilsner malt. Not much difference than my German pilsner other than yeast and fermentation temperature
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I think people would be very surprised if they knew this and understood it. Many styles are related.
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I’ve made a saison with both peaches and tart cherries. Prefer the cherry. I alway let it ferment ambient and prefer 75+ F to get the banana esters. I’ve controlled it lower and brought the peppery side forward but peppery cherries are not my jam. 
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Went north yesterday… just had to get away. We stopped at Bent Paddle Brewery… they had a Saison on tap… of course that’s what I had. It was decent.
Sneezles61
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I never use fruit in my beers, but just for fun I decided to take advantage of the staghorn sumac tree that grows in my yard. I made a 1 gallon stovetop batch using pilsner, wheat and munich malts, Magnum hops for bittering and a pack of Lallemand Belle Saison yeast that expired back in 2019. After fermentation, I racked the beer into a jug with 1/4 lb of sumac berries. A few days later I racked again onto another 1/4 lb of sumac berries. A couple days later I bottled the beer with some table sugar in each bottle to prime.
I was doing this beer just for fun and was expecting it to be a dumper. It ended up being a very nice beer. The beer is quite tart, crisp and refreshing. The staghorn sumac adds a lot of lemony type flavors and has a rustic quality that works great in a saison.
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very nice
Nice carbonation from that Duvel bottle!
What temp did you ferment at?
Sneezles61
I let it ferment at an ambient temp. of 72°.
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Ok another reason to bottle now im getting to the bottom of the keg the saison aroma and flavor is coming back 
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