Is there a real benefit of fermenting saisons at a higher temp (high 70s to low 80s) as opposed to sticking within the 68-72 range?
For some strains you may not get the attenuation you hope for unless you put the temp up. The rest of the 'advantages' are more preference in taste/flavour profile side of things. It will change per strain but the rough guide is that at lower temps the yeast flavours will be subdued and niether estery or phenolic. Middle temps will favour the estery compounds and higher temps will favour the phenolic compounds. I've got one 3-4 days into fermentation, went downstairs half an hour ago and added another degree to allow it to rise to 25C/77F. It was at 20C/68F for a day and half then I've been letting it rise 1-2C a day since then. The internets says that will give me a yeast flavour with more clove flavours which will be nice.
I don’t have a temp controller or the ability to control my temp like that at this time. I was hoping staying at 70 would provide me with some good saison
Some strains won't change much regardless of the temp, so I wouldn't worry too much. Brew the same beer in winter and summer to see if the difference is worth the stuffing around and equipment. For this batch I'd just chuck it in the warmest room in the house. If you've got a coolish spot you could do 1-2 days there first, then move it to the warmest room.
Esters is responsible of smells in beer like an apple, banana, pear or fruit aromas, it depends on the strain, and in high tempeture the yeast tend to produce more of that compound, so if you wanna more that fruit aromas you should raise the temperature Now i have one batch of saison in fermentor, i left it in 28C/84F four days, in hope to have high atenuation and aromas of pepper, clove, apple. The yeast i used was belle saison.
I think I found a post of yours where you added lemongrass to one of your beers. I’m wanting to make a saison with ginger root, peppercorn and lemongrass. Making a 1 gallon test batch. How did your additions turn out?
I’m thinking to add the following in mesh sack: 3 grams of smashed lemongrass at 20 mins 2 grams of ginger root at 5 1.5 grams peppercorns at 5
I don't recall doing that in a Saison and today, I wouldn't. A decent Saison shouldn't need the spices, particularly ginger and lemongrass. The Saison Dupont yeast strain gives some citrussy flavors, I wouldn't double down with the lemongrass. A touch of pepper, maybe some Grains of Paradise but a good Saison should stand on its own. I'd brew it "straight" first, then decide if I wanted to spice it. The lemongrass and ginger work nicely in wheat. Peppercorns were in a chipotle pepper beer, all are far removed from Saison.
I'm adding a bunch of spices to my current batch, but that's is a quaffing beer to match sticky asian food, barely qualifies as saison in many ways of thinking. My ultimate saison that I'm ages away from brewing (if I ever get there) is going to live and die by the yeast and probably won't have any spices.
I say go for the spiced saison. Does a saison need spices? No. But that doesn't mean a spiced saison won't taste good. And doing some creative brews is fun. I think your amounts should work and not be too overpowering.
I agree.... On the second batch. Brew one "straight" to see what it's like, then start modifying. But that's my risk-averse approach.
I make saisons quite often. However, the saison yeasts that I have use have had a difference in recommended temperature range. The Mangrove Jack yeast shows 79-90 °F while the Danstar Belle Saison give a range of 63-77 °F. I'm really not sure if there is a specific strain for Saison or if other Belgian strains are just labeled as saison yeast. FWIW, the Danstar yeast has been my favorite.
I think so many of the Belgians brewers hate the idea of styles and categories so they're happy for things to be as vague and confusing as possible.
