Unreasonable Saison

Beer Recipe Design
1

So I’m probably not going to brew this up for a month or so (ready for June perhaps), but I wanted to get some feedback on this recipe. I did a Saison a while back which came out great, and I’m hankering to do another one. I fear though that I’m trying to cram too much into one beer since there is so much I want to happen with this one.

Batch Size 3.5 Gallons
S.G. 1.058 - shooting for around 6.5%abv

Assuming 68% efficiency

3.3 lbs (40%) Belgian Pilsner
2.5 lbs (30%) Belgian Pale
1.6 lbs (20%) Bohemian Pils - Have some leftover that needs to be used, so why not

2/3 lb (10%) Simplicity Candi Syrup

~30IBUs
.25oz Sorachi Ace (12%) @ 60min
.5oz Styrian Goldings (5.5%) @ 20min
.25oz Sorachi Ace (12%) @ 20min
.25oz Sorachi Ace (12%) @ 5min
.5oz Styrian Goldings (5.5%) @ 2min or flameout

Wyeast 3724 - Pitch at 65F and let warm to 70F, then use an aquarium heater to boost to 85F to finish… however long that will be

Add dry white sage to secondary

So I’m looking for a spicy peppery saison (from yeast and styrian goldings) with a slight lemony character/aroma (from sorachi ace). The candi syrup should add a slight citrusy or honey character but mainly serves to boost fermentability. The white sage is thrown in there because I’ve had a saison with white sage before and it was phenominal.

There’s a lot I want to happen here, but I don’t really want anything to be overpowering. Will the Sorachi Ace overpower the other characters? Can i just lower the amount to get the desired effect? Is the sage even worth it, or will it be drowned out/clash with the other ingredients?

Any additional thoughts are welcome.

Thanks!

-Craig

2

Sounds interesting. Hope to hear how it turns out.

3

Its a Saison so its hard to go wrong. I am going to do a Thai version and do something similar with Ginger and Lemon Grass spices @ knockout and in secondary.

4

If you want a pepper flavor from the hops, use East Kent Goldings as a bittering/flavor hop. They can have a citrus and pepper flavor. Styrians are great too. They give a nice citrus character. Any European base malt will work fine. Just watch out for to much specialty grain. Some of the toasty/crystal flavors can cover up the citrus character. Don’t be afraid to ferment warm. I’ve used WLP 565 many times and fermented at 90 degrees. The beers come out great as long as you practice good santitation procedures.

I would also drop the sugar. I make all malt saisons, and they always finish out with Dupont yeast (565, 3787.) I have even had an all Marris Oter 1.070 beer finish at 1.006 with this yeast. Just mash at 148. It was delicious.