Saison ruined?

[Øllemann]

At bach 7 I'm still a rookie it seems. Recipe below.

Problem: The pacific jade hops smells fantastic but I should have calculated for the high bitterness. My IBU is through the roof for a saison. But have I ruined the beer by using too much hops?

Title: Rainy Saison
Batch Size: 24 liters (
STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.062
Final Gravity: 1.007 ?
ABV (standard): 7.18%
IBU (tinseth): 67.13
FERMENTABLES:
5.3 kg - German - Pilsner (71.6%)
1.5 kg - German - Wheat Malt (20.3%)
0.6 kg - German - Munich Light (8.1%)
HOPS:
35 g - Pacific jade, Type: Pellet, AA: 13, Use: Boil for 60 min, IBU: 45.91
30 g - Pacific jade, Type: Pellet, AA: 13, Use: Boil for 15 min, IBU: 19.53
30 g - Pacific jade, Type: Pellet, AA: 13, Use: Boil for 1 min, IBU: 1.7
OTHER INGREDIENTS:
5 g - szechuan pepper, Time: 1 min, Type: Spice, Use: Boil
1.5 each - dried lime,Iran, crushed, Time: 1 min, Type: Flavor, Use: Boil
30 g - lemongrass, cut, Time: 1 min, Type: Flavor, Use: Boil
YEAST:
Wyeast - French Saison 3711

 

[Head First]

RDWHAHB Letters to live by. You say 1.007? That's about what to expect from Saison yeast but it can drop more. How long has it been fermenting? You have a lot of stuff in there with a yeast that leaves a lot of flavor.
I have a recipe for a stout with 335 IBU's and with time it is fantastic. If it finishes and still is too strong for your taste, wait a few more months. Give the beer time to blend together. In the mean time make another batch .

 

[jmcnamara]

i agree with giving it some time to age. out of curiosity, what was your BU/GU for this recipe? that might give you a rough idea if the hops outweigh the malts. there's a ton more variables than that, but it's a place to start

also, where did you get the idea for all those Other Ingredients? i don't know if i was even thinking along those lines at my 7th batch

 

[Nosybear]

Agreed, I have no idea where to start with this recipe. But give it time. Saisons are notorious for taking a while to come into their own.

 

[Øllemann]

Thanks for good advice! And for teaching me about BU/GU ratio.

The beer has been plopping away for 6 days now at the same pace. Smells good! I think my platoon of saison yeast is going to push the gravity down far below 1010. Sadly my BU/GU is at 1.08. and this seems to turn into a bitter little misfit. Hoping it's still drinkable after a while. Might even taste good.

The idea was to have a fun beer to go along With my Vietnamese PHO Soup dinner party. Some of the ingredients I got the idea from this recipe: http://www.7fjellbryggeri.com/brewourlyderhorn

szechuan pepper and dried lime, seem to fit together fine :idea: Althought, for my Next beer I wil not mess around With other than malt and hops and water.

 

[jmcnamara]

No yeast? Are you going for an immaculate fermentation?
There is something to be said for simple beers, but then again nothing wrong with loading up on some weird ingredients and flavors. It sounds like you had a clear end goal in mind, which helps to reverse engineer the recipe.
And even a bad batch can be a good learning tool

 

[EbonHawk]

Interesting recipe!! Like the direction the szechuan and lemongrass are going. Reminds me of Thai coconut soup I just went on a crusade to obtain all the stuff I needed for it (lemongrass, lime, thai chili paste, galangal, etc). Yummy stuff.

And he mentioned yeast, jmcnamara, unless it was added to the original post later...

 

[Øllemann]

6 weeks later: A Clear, Straw-yellow brew. something citrusy in the background, typical saison profile but not overwhelming yeasty (fermented at moderate temps). Bottled at 1009 gravity seems to have stabilised but might creep down a bit more so i Carbonated gently With sugar.

Bitterness not all that bad! Pacific jade hop is said to give a round bitterness. Definetely a refreshing brew, getting better every week