All-grain · 20 L (5.3 gal)
Saison Recipe
BJCP 25B · Saison
The Belgian farmhouse ale: dry, highly carbonated, with spice and fruit from the yeast. It ferments warm, which makes it ideal for summer.
Saison recipe by the numbers
- Batch size
- 20 L (5.3 gal)
- Original gravity
- 1.060
- Final gravity
- 1.004
- ABV
- 7.3%
- Bitterness
- 25 IBU
- Color
- 6 SRM (11 EBC)
- Mash
- 64 °C (147 °F) for 75 minutes
- Boil
- 60 minutes
- Fermentation
- 20 °C (68 °F) rising to 26 °C (79 °F), 2-3 weeks
- Bottling
- 8.5 g of sugar per liter (1.1 oz/gal)
About 180 kcal per 330 ml (11 oz) bottle, worked out from its original and final gravity.
Saison recipe: ingredients and steps
Batch size
Recipe for 20 liters (5.3 US gallons) into the fermenter.
Malts
| Malt | Amount | % |
|---|---|---|
| Pilsner malt4 EBC (2 °L) | 4.00 kg (8.82 lb) | 74.8% |
| Wheat malt4 EBC (2 °L) | 0.40 kg (0.88 lb) | 7.5% |
| Munich malt15 EBC (6 °L) | 0.50 kg (1.10 lb) | 9.3% |
| Light crystal malt60 EBC (23 °L) | 0.15 kg (0.33 lb) | 2.8% |
| White sugar0 EBC (1 °L) | 0.30 kg (0.66 lb) | 5.6% |
Hops
| Hop | Amount | When |
|---|---|---|
| East Kent Goldings5.5% alpha acids | 35 g (1.23 oz) | 60 minBittering |
| Saaz3.5% alpha acids | 30 g (1.06 oz) | 15 minFlavor |
| Saaz3.5% alpha acids | 30 g (1.06 oz) | FlameoutAroma |
You will also need
Yeast: Dry saison yeast, such as BE-134: one 11.5 g (0.4 oz) packet. This is what gives the pepper, the fruit and that very dry finish.
Water: About 29.5 L (7.8 gal): 16 L (4.2 gal) for the mash and 13.5 L (3.6 gal) for the sparge.
Priming sugar: 8.5 g of white sugar per liter bottled (1.1 oz/gal): about 160 g (5.6 oz) for 19 L (5 gal). It's highly carbonated, so use thick bottles: Belgian beer or champagne bottles.
Hops: pellets, kept in the freezer until brew day.
Step by step
- Heat 16 L (4.2 gal) of water to 70 °C (158 °F), add the crushed malt (not the sugar, which goes into the boil) and stir well. It should settle at about 64 °C (147 °F): hold that temperature for 75 minutes, covered. A low, long mash gives you a very fermentable wort.
- Lift out the grain and sparge it with 13.5 L (3.6 gal) of water at 76 °C (169 °F). You should collect about 24 L (6.3 gal) of wort at 1.046-1.047.
- Bring to a boil and boil for 60 minutes, uncovered. When the boil starts, add the 35 g (1.2 oz) of East Kent Goldings; with 15 minutes left, add 30 g (1.1 oz) of Saaz and the 300 g (10.6 oz) of sugar, stirring so it doesn't stick to the bottom.
- Turn off the heat, add the other 30 g (1.1 oz) of Saaz and let it stand for 10 minutes.
- Chill to 20 °C (68 °F), transfer about 20 L (5.3 gal) to the sanitized fermenter and take a gravity reading: it should be around 1.060. Shake well to aerate.
- Pitch the yeast and ferment at 20 °C (68 °F) for the first two days. Then let it rise on its own, or help it along, to 25-26 °C (77-79 °F) and hold it there until the end. Unlike almost every other beer, a saison needs that heat to finish dry.
- When the gravity stays at 1.004 or lower for three days in a row, bottle with the priming sugar and let it carbonate for two weeks at room temperature.
Many dry saison yeasts are the diastaticus variant: they can take the beer down to 1.002 and keep working slowly in the bottle. Don't bottle while the gravity is still dropping, and thoroughly sanitize the fermenter and tubing afterward, because it can carry over into your next beer.
If it stalls around 1.010, raise the temperature instead of lowering it. If your Goldings isn't 5.5% alpha acids, use 35 × 5.5 ÷ your percentage, in grams.
The style: Saison (BJCP 25B), with its history, its numbers and other ways to brew it.
Different setup? Recalculate with the water calculator, the IBU calculator and the priming sugar calculator.
Rating recipes and keeping a brew log need an account, which is only available in Spanish for now. English accounts are coming soon.
Frequently asked questions
How strong will this Saison be?
About 7.3% ABV: it starts at 1.060 and finishes at 1.004, and (OG − FG) × 131.25 gives that percentage.
How long until it is ready?
One brew day, fermentation at 20 °C (68 °F) rising to 26 °C (79 °F), 2-3 weeks and about two weeks in the bottle: give it a little over a month.
Can I use a different bittering hop?
Yes. What matters is keeping the bitterness: if you use another hop instead of East Kent Goldings at 5.5% alpha acids, work out the grams from its alpha acids (or with the IBU calculator) to stay at about 25 IBUs.
What if my system does not get 72% efficiency?
Your gravity will come out different. Scale the base malt up or down (or add a little dry malt extract to the boil if you fall short) and recalculate the water with the calculator.
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Reference style: Saison in the BJCP guidelines, 2021 edition. Original recipe by Hacer Cerveza Casera, designed for a homebrew setup.