Amarillo Saison

Amarillo Saison

I never used to enjoy Saisons, that was until I tried the Sturt Street Saison by Little Bang. Really simple and refreshing in summer I was the beginning of me branching out to other styles of beers besides Pale Ales, IPA's and Stouts.

This will be the second Saison I have brewed with the first one being OK but I think I had to many beers while brewing (well that's my excuse) and I put the 0 minute hops it at 60 minutes, and it ended up to bitter.  I also used a dry yeast first time round, I don't think there was anything wrong with that but I have come to enjoy my IPA's, Pales etc much more since making the switch to liquid yeasts.  So liquid it is.

So for this one I wanted it to be a bit of a session beer, around 5% ABV but with some nice fruity notes from the hops, nothing over the top though for this I want the yeast to do the work.

For the grains I wanted this to be pale, like straw pale, I love the look of a Saison like this.  So it consists of pilsner and wheat.  That's it.  The torrified wheat is there to try and give it some body so it doesn't end up too thin.

The main inspiration for this beer was from the Mad Fermentationist and his Hoppy French Saison recipe.

I decided to brew this one on a Friday after work as I wouldn't have time on Saturday and would likely be hungover Sunday.  Let this be a lesson to all home brewers (and one that most likely know) don't get high on your own supply while brewing (didn't I learn any lessons from the first Saison?).  By the time I got started I was a few 7% stouts down and quite merry.  Then my brother in law rocked up to 'supervise' and well, it was all down hill from there.  Especially when drinking the IPA from my earlier post, the hop aroma from that beer is amazing.

Anyway somehow it got brewed with the only mistake that I missed the whirfloc tablet, not too bad considering I woke up and couldn't even remember putting it into the fermentor..........

Recipe:

Saison

OG 1.046

EBC 6.7

IBU 27

ABV 5%

FG 1.008

Fermentables:

3kg Pilsner Malt (59%)

1.5kg Wheat Malt (29%)

400g Torrified Wheat (8%)
200g Rice Hulls (4%)

Yeast:
Wyeast 3711

Mash:

Mashed at 65 degrees C for 60mins

Raised to 75 degrees for 10mins

Boil:
Boiled for 60mins

Hops:

Amarillo 25g (8.8AA) 23.2 IBU @ 60mins

Amarillo 30g (8.8AA) 4.5 IBU @ hopstand once chilled to 80 degrees C

Fermentation:
Fermented at 22 degrees C for the first 4 days then raised up to 24 to finish it off.

Dry Hops:
Amarillo 50g (8.8AA) 0 IBU day 5

This beer turned out pretty average.  Not at all like I wanted.  The yeast has totally taken over and with no malt or hops to go along with it there really is nothing making you come back for more.  The Mrs reckons it tastes like pickle juice, I don't think its that bad but its not good either.

The hops are just not there at all, absolutely nothing..........

The beer looks nice and clear and the colour is exactly how I wanted it, I guess that's something right?

To be honest I think this is going to go down the drain as its not a beer that's getting any better in the keg either.  Its been 4 weeks now and it still tastes pretty average.  I think its destined for the drain...............