False Sun - Hoppy Black Saison

If Black Saison isn’t a classic style, Hoppy Black Saison certainly isn’t. Yet, I’ve found myself making a hoppy black saison for the third time. Like my two previous batches this is intended to blend citrusy American hops, roasty dark malt character, and the spice and fruit of saison yeast. With that in mind I also greatly changed this recipe out of fear of getting too much chocolate/roast flavors and did not include any citrus peel in an attempt to let the hops shine on their own. I’ve also lost the original recipe at this point so it would be hard to entirely recreate even if I wanted to.

Brewday: 1/15/23

Preboil gravity: 1.035 at 7.25 gallons

Boiled 90 minutes

Post boil gravity: 1.047 at 5.25 gallons

1/19/23: This beer has been showing slight signs of fermentation (krausen and bubbles in the airlock) since the day after pitching yeast but the airlock bubbles have slowed rapidly to less than once a minute and I was worried this one may have stalled so I took a hydrometer reading. Gravity sample showed 1.006, indicating that rather than a stall it may have already reached final gravity as it’s below the estimated FG less than 4 days after pitching the yeast. This isn’t entirely surprising for such a fast working and attenuative yeast (not to mention an attenuative malt/sugar bill) but considering the beer has spent most of the time with ambient temperatures in the upper 60s it’s impressive how quickly it’s chewed through the sugars. Flavor is nice, fairly spicy but not clove-like from the yeast, a blend of coffee and dark fruit from the malts, yeast, and sugar, and a refreshing orange-like citrus character from the hops. Still a decent layer of yeast and this one could attenuate even further so it likely won’t be kegged for another couple of weeks but happy with where it seems to be heading at this point.

1/26/23: Krausen has fallen and it isn’t showing any signs of active fermentation. Added 1 oz each of American Cascade and French Strisselspalt.

1/28/23: Kegged and placed in chest freezer at 50F and 20PSI (targeting 2.7 volumes of CO2). Will likely need to adjust the pressure as the temperature in the freezer gets adjusted around a lagering schedule. Taste is interesting, not a lot of obvious yeast character and maybe not as dry as I expect from a saison with both the hops and candi syrup seeming to contribute a lot of fruitiness and some earthy flavors. All around it currently seems a little disjointed and I’m partially wishing I hadn’t added the D-90 but hopefully some carbonation and time will make everything a little more cohesive and saison like.

3/6/23: Tasting notes.

Aroma: Big pepper and fresh cut grass jumps out of the glass, lemony citrus notes eventually mingle in alongside light notes of dried fruit and black cherry.

Appearance: Very dark brown, approaching black with a large fluffy tan head that slowly fades to a thin layer leaving behind lots of foam clinging to the sides. Holding it to the light shows a nice garnet tint though clarity is only medium and I wonder if this one is near the end of the keg as there’s a small amount of what appears to be hop matter in the bottom of the glass that I haven’t noticed on previous pours. Not sure I would want this to look much different other than the particulate.

Taste: Roastier than the nose, with a very mild coffee note throughout. Light pepper and fruitiness from the yeast mingle with light grapefruit and tangerine peel alongside plum, raisin, and date. There’s probably a little bit too much going on though losing any one of the qualities or boosting the hoppiness might make the rest work better. Finish is lightly bitter leaving a subtle blend of fruitiness and the very light coffee impression.

Mouthfeel: This one is very heavily carbonated. This would probably be considered overcarbonation for most styles but I like this much in a saison and it helps the flavors all pop. Body is medium/medium-low, not as dry as would be expected in a saison but I think it mostly works here.

Overall: After more than a month on tap I’m still not really sure how to feel about this one. Part of me regrets using the D-90 as the dark fruit characters it adds seems to be one thing too many in a beer that also features so much from the hops, yeast, and malt. On the other hand, I frequently find myself having a second glass to try to determine how I felt about the first, so it has me going back for more. The hops have faded a bit at this point and probably could’ve been heavier in the first place. Certainly an interesting beer, in some ways it combines a Belgian Saison, a Belgian Dubbel, an American Pale Ale, and a German Schwartzbier all at once and surprisingly somehow almost manages to pull it all off. If I brew this again I will likely use more late/dry hops, an addition of orange peel to increase the citrus character, and drop the candi sugar, to let this be closer to the Black IPA and Saison hybrid I intended when first coming up with this idea.

Hoppy Black Saison Recipe and Tasting #1 (and only)

I brewed up my first Hoppy Black Saison at the end of March.  The recipe was intended to combine two styles I greatly enjoy: Saison and Black IPA.  It was also intended to be a simple extract recipe using up some of the grains I had sitting around.  I should note that part of the reason this took me so long to write is that every time I sit down to do a tasting of these I've suddenly drank 3 or 4 and am in no state to write about them.

Tasting:

Appearance- Extremely dark brown, usually looking opaque and black but in thinner glasses/sections a bit of light shines through.  It pours with an off white medium thick head of about half an inch.  Really the right look for a black IPA.

Smell- The first thing that hits is a clean citrus with notes of earth, coffee, chocolate and smoke underneath.  Again this one is right where I would like it to be. Good start.

Taste- Again the first thing to come through is a fruity citrus flavor that seems to be equal parts hops and yeast derivatives (and maybe a touch of the orange peel I used) and the slight funky earthiness I associate with saisons. This is followed with roast, black cherries and pit fruits with a sweet and chocolaty middle that seems to come from the porter-esque ingredients and the Special B.  The finish is just bitter enough (seemingly coming from both the roasted barley and the hops) to balance this sweetness but doesn't meet anywhere near IPA levels (though it does seem on par with some of my favorite black IPA's).  There is occasionally a black pepper like sensation but only just enough to make me search for it.

Mouthfeel- Crisp carbonation with medium body puts this one a bit on the heavier side of IPA's and certainly Saisons but still thinner than most porters.  I may like the attenuation to finish a bit higher but honestly it goes down well as is.

Drinkability/Overall- This is the best beer I've ever made and one of the most drinkable I've ever had.  The complexity of hop/yeast/roast is really intriguing but none of it is overpowering, the elements all play very well together.  This beer began as an attempt to use up some grains and try to make something really out of the box, both were achieved magnificently.  Like the dark saison reviews I've seen on The Mad Fermentationist  there is really so much going on that it is hard to tell where exactly each element arrives from (is the citrus from the orange peel, hops or yeast? The cherry/dried fruit flavor from Special B, yeast or a combination of thing?) which makes it really exciting to me. This one is already gone (I went to grab one on 4th of July and got pretty sad when I noticed there weren't any left) and will be a beer that I will DEFINITELY be brewing again.