Calling for saison input - Brooklyn Sorachi Ace

Beer Recipe Design
1

I tried the Brooklyn Brewery Sorachi Ace Saison a few days ago and really like it. Hopfully someone else has tried it and can weigh in.

Smooth soft body, big foamy head, lemony aroma and taste, not extremely dry and spicy like Dupont. Brewery reports:

fermentables - german pils malt, sugar
OG/FG - 1.064/1.006 for 7.6% ABV
Perle and Sorachi Ace to 34 IBU, dry hopped
“housestrain” Belgian yeast primary
champagne yeast secondary (I interpret this as bottle conditioning)

I’ve not used Sorachi Ace and am concerned about overwhelming the beer with the lemony flavor from this hop.

Thinking of making this recipe below. Comments appreciated.

Bestmalz pils - 12.0 lbs at 75% eff
cane sugar - 1.0 lbs
maybe a touch of wheat malt for head retention

OG 1.065

German Perle - .8 oz 8% 60 min
Sorachi Ace - 1.0 oz 15% 10 min
Sorachi Ace - 0.5 oz 15% 0 min
Sorachi Ace - 0.5 oz 15% dry (or ditch the FO and use 1.0 dry)

calculates to about 32 IBU’s

mash single infusion at 152F

3711 French Saison
champagne yeast or WY 1056 for attenuation

2

Looks to me like you have the right approach.

3

Yep.

4

Answering my own post.

I found a clone recipe for this beer published in BYO Dec 2011. This recipe was prepared by Garrett Oliver who was the brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery.

Grain: pils/sugar as suspected

This is the hopping schedule, no mention of Perle but the recipe may have been tweaked since:

0.5 oz SA 60 minutes
0.5 oz SA 60 minutes
5.0 oz SA flameout (yes, 5 oz !)
2.0 oz SA dry

The 5 oz FO hopping seems over the top to me but considering that the brewmaster provided the recipe, I’d consider it credible.

Other thoughts ?

5

Sounds credible to me. Do what he says, or try less and see what you can get away with. Personally I would probably cut back to 2 oz instead of 5, something like that. Probably a waste of money and volume otherwise.

6

Thanks. I was thinking 3 oz at the most FO with 2.0 dry. If the aroma is lacking, then increase the dry hop.

My personal opinion is that there is a limiting return on flavor and aroma with massive late hop additions. Hop dependent of course.

7

Looks good. I’m brewing a similar recipe tomorrow, not sure about what hops yet.

Just curious, why the champagne yeast? The few times I’ve used 3711, attenuation was not a problem.
Especially with added sugar. :cheers:

8

The champagne yeast was reported by Brooklyn Brewery. I assume they add it for bottle conditioning. I wouldn’t plan to use it for homebrew.

9

Gotcha. I decided on Pacific Jade for my saison, never used them yet.

Did you decide on FO amount yet? I’m borrowing your hop schedule.

10

I don’t plan to make this for a few weeks; however, here is what my plan is:

for 5.75 gal wort, adjust for AA to 34 IBU target

perle 0.8 oz at 60 min
SA 1.0 oz at 10 min
SA 2.0 or 3.0 oz at 0 min (hop stand about 20 minutes)
SA 2.0 oz dry

I’d sample for flavor and aroma at FO, then add 1 oz SA to the hop stand and stir.

11

You read my mind! Maybe I read your mind.

I went with all Pacific Jade at:

.8 oz @ 60
1.0 @ 10
3.0 @ FO with a 30 min hopstand

I’ll add hops as needed to the keg.

Pitched 3711 about 30 mins ago. :cheers:

12

So I’m looking for a good Saison to brew. How’d this come out? What would you change (if anything)

13

I made pretty much what I listed in the original post.

I do suggest you try the Brooklyn Brewery SA Saison before brewing this. It is unique.

My final hop schedule was 1.0 perle at 60, 1.0 sorachi ace at 10, 4.0 at FO, 2 SA dry. Grain was 100% pils with 7% of fermentables cane sugar. OG 1.065. FG 1.004. WY3711.

Side by side the beer was very close to the BB SA saison. The character was very close to a tripel. Attenuation was much more than I expected with final gravity at 1.004. It does need a bit more body. The dill flavor/aroma stood out more than I expected but with cold conditioning, this is fading and the lemon tends to come forward.

I plan to make another batch soon with a few adjustments. First, the final gravity was lower than expected. This was my first experience with 3711. I pitched cold, around 64F and let it free rise. It reached 72F. I then kept it at 72F for 7 days. Not exactly how I’ll compensate: free rise then don’t keep at 72F or control temp at 68F and/or warmer mash temp and/or drop the cane sugar.

This yeast isn’t very flocculent. I’ll cold condition for 3 weeks before bottling next batch. I’ll back off the hops: use only SA, SA bitter to 34 IBU, keep the 10 min add, reduce FO to 2 and dry 2-3 oz. I will probably sub some of the pils with 2.0 Vienna or 1.0 Munich. Not sure yet.

Hope this helps !!

14

Ya sounds good. I think I’m gonna go with 85% pils and 15% rye and use SA for bittering and maybe some citra for a later addition to balance the rye with some citrus. Or maybe cascade. Haven’t figured it yet. Looking forward to it.

Thanks. The ideas about fermentation temps helps. I’ve never used 3711 either. I’ll post a recipe when I plan it.

15

Nice. I just made a lighter saison with the 3711, .056 OG, with about 15% flaked rye. I used SA for bitter and a combo of centennial and amarillo finishing hops. That one has cold conditioned for 3 weeks. Clear in the secondary and ready to keg. Really anxious to taste that batch.