Anniversary Saison

Or, as the kids call it, Spider-Sling Webshooter Saison. Brewed on my 11th anniversary.

Recipe

Batch size: 5 gallons

Grain bill:

• 4 lb Marris Otter
• 4 lb wheat malt
• 4 oz rye malt

Hops:

• 3 oz neightbour Mike's hops @ 90 min
• 2 oz Perle (9.3%) @ 30
• 2 oz Cascade (5%?) @ 5

Yeast: Wyeast 3711, French Saison

Target gravity: 1.044.

Prep

May 25, 2012: Usual mash overnight. I hit 70C, which is way higher than I wanted. I also noticed that a lot of the wheat seemed unbroken by the mill...arghh. I'll stay at a higher temp to try and thicken up this brew; otherwise, I'm worried it'll just be thin, thin, thin.

Brew Day

May 26, 2012: Down to 68C overnight. Got 6 gallons at 1.036, so I'm hopeful this'll work out well. Fiddled with the hopping schedule, of course. OG into the fermenter: 1.047, so not bad.

Bottling

June 16, 2012: 1.002 FG -- wow. 5.8% ABV. Very nice; kind of spicy, herby. I think I forgot the pepper, though.

Tasting

August 26, 2012: I couldn't wait this long, of course, but this was the first time I made notes. In a word: lovely. This is easily one of my favourite beers. I'm very happy with the yeast, and plan to use it again. Simple, spicy, satisfying. Will definitely brew again.