AG32 - Spiced Saison

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serum

AG32 - Spiced Saison

Post by serum » Wed Jul 13, 2016 6:43 pm

Estimated OG: 1.049
Actual OG: 1.052
Estimated FG: 1.010
IBU: 25
Yeast - WLP566 Saison II
Est ABV: 5.0%

Mash: 30 mins @ 64C, 30 mins @ 71C
3kg Dingemans Pilsner
2kg Dingemans Pale

Boil: 90 mins

20g Challenger (6%AA) and 20g EKG (5.7%AA) @ 60 mins
Protofloc @ 15 mins
3g ginger, 7g coriander, 0.5g grains of paradise and 0.5g star anise @ 5 mins

Well this was an eventful brew. The first thing I did was plug the boiler / HLT in wthout noticing one of the plugs was turned on and scorched one of my elements. After a good soak in citric acid I was ready to get going.

I then noticed the bottled water I use had changed and is now a lot harder (but still not as bad as london water). The bottle had a full breakdown but when I tested alkalinity it was a fair bit lower. I went with the same amount of acid as usual for a pale beer but added more gypsum and calcium chloride than usual and it seemed to do the trick. I aimed for just over 100ppm calcium, about 130ppm sulfate and 70ppm chloride. I hit pH 5.5 during the mash.

I've done single infusions for all my other beers but want more body so I tried a step mash and this went as planned. I hit the temp so time will tell whether it gives me the result I want. I'd like to try a mash out but the mash tun was too full after the second addition. I might have to try a bit of a thicker mash to begin with next time round to see if I can manage it.

I got a little more efficiency than usual, beating my pre and post boil gravity by 3 points which was nice. The wort tasted really nice too. Looking forward to seeing how the spices work out. I imagine this yeast will chew down further than 1.010 so I'll expect 5.5-6% from this one.

Frothy

Re: AG32 - Spiced Saison

Post by Frothy » Wed Apr 26, 2017 11:45 pm

How did it turn out with the spices? Sounds tasty

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serum

Re: AG32 - Spiced Saison

Post by serum » Thu Apr 27, 2017 12:14 pm

It came out really good actually, very subtle spicing and I got a nice bready taste from the malt. I'd recommend the recipe if you fancy trying this sort of thing.

The basic step mash worked well too giving it a bit more body. Much nicer than the single step ones I've done.

Frothy

Re: AG32 - Spiced Saison

Post by Frothy » Sat Apr 29, 2017 7:49 pm

Great, kee to try one of these. Are the spices fresh and did you grind them?

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Frothy

Re: AG32 - Spiced Saison

Post by Frothy » Sun Apr 30, 2017 12:31 pm

For wheat beers when i'm doing stepped mashes I use just 1L/kg for the strike. Gives more room for the second infusion step (using boiling water)

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serum

Re: AG32 - Spiced Saison

Post by serum » Sat May 06, 2017 7:55 pm

Frothy wrote:Great, kee to try one of these. Are the spices fresh and did you grind them?

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I loosely crushed them with pestle and mortar. The ginger was fresh and I sliced and crushed it a bit with a knife.

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