IDEA
The idea for this beer came to me while drinking my Irish Rye Stout. I thought that fermenting with Belgian yeast would be an interesting twist on the rye stout style, so I made some changes to the recipe and a few weeks later started brewing. I wanted to use an Abbey strain, but had some Saison yeast with a close best before date, so used it instead.
Recipe
When putting together this recipe based on my Irish Rye Stout I wanted achieve a few things:
Lesser roast flavor
A bit of chocolate
Bigger body
To achieve these goals, I lowered the amount of Roasted barley, added some DRC for that chocolate flavor. Also tossed some wheat in to give a fuller body and increased the used rye malts. I wanted to focus this beer on the malt and yeast character so I only added bittering hops.
Stats:
Est. OG: 1.059
Est. FG: 1.011
ABV 6.4%
Color: 40.8 SRM
IBU: 39.3
Est. Brewhouse Efficiency: 85%
Boil-Time: 60 minutes
Water Profile: Murphys - Stouts, Porters & Milds
| Name | Temperature (Metric) | Temperature (US) | Time (minute) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mash In | 66.7C | 152.06F | 75 | |||||||
| Mash Out | 75.6C | 168.08F | 10 | |||||||
| Boil | 100C | 212F | 60 |
| Name | Weight (Metric) | Weight (US) | Percentage | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weyermann Pale Ale | 2.5 kg | 5.51 lb | 51% | |||||||
| Weyermann Rye Malt | 0.8 kg | 1.76 lb | 16.3% | |||||||
| Weyermann Dark Wheat | 0.6 kg | 1.32 lb | 12.2% | |||||||
| Weyermann Roasted Barley | 0.4 kg | 0.88 lb | 8.2% | |||||||
| Simpsons DRC | 0.4 kg | 0.88 lb | 8.2% | |||||||
| Rice Hulls | 0.2 kg | 0.44 lb | 4.1% |
| Name | Weight (Metric) | Weight (US) | IBU | Alpha Acid | Time (minute) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hallertau Magnum | 26g | 0.92 oz | 39.3 | 12.5% | 60 |
| Name | Producer | Type | Style | Dry Alternatives | Liquid Alternatives | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kingster (YF-501) | Yeastflow | Liquid | Francia Saison | B64 Napoleon Mangrove Jack's M29 |
3711 French Saison |
| Strike Water (Metric) | Strike Water (US) | Sparge Water (Metric) | Sparge Water (US) | Ca | Mg | Na | SO4 | Cl | HCO3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17.38L | 4.59 gal | 11.86L | 3.13 gal | 179.4 ppm | 3.10 ppm | - | 73.20 ppm | 270.60 ppm | - |
| Name | Weight (Metric) | Weight (US) | Time (minute) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yeast Nutrient | 2g | 0.07 oz | 15 | |||||||
| Supermoss | 4g | 0.14 oz | 15 | |||||||
| L-Ascorbic Acid | 3g | 0.11 oz | 60 |
Brewday
I already collected the RO water yesterday, so I only needed to crush the malts to begin the brewday.
After that I heated up the mash water, then added the crushed malts to the malt tube, while stirring to avoid clumps and dry spots.
After 10 minutes of mashing, I measured the PH of the wort. It was below the recommended 5.2-5.4 range, but this is not unexpected in a dark beer, so I proceeded.
Before starting the boil I took a pre-boil gravity sample. The refractometer show 1.047 instead of the expect 1.050, but it was a minor difference, so I did not add any DME.
At 60 minutes I added the bittering additions, then proceeded with the boil. At 15 I added the adjuncts. After the boil was done I cooled down the wort, then took a OG reading, which shows a value of 1.058 just as expected.
The fermentation went well, and within a week the beer reached its final gravity. The temperature was well between the recommended range 19.8C (67.64F) - 23.3C (73.94F), with an average of 21.4C (70.52F).
Please note that the gravity readings by my iSpindel are used for the tracking of the fermentation and should not be taken as specific gravity.
After the fermentation was done, I took a final gravity reading which showed the value 1.009, two points below the expected 1.011. After that I racked the beer into a corny keg and force carbonated it for three days.
Tasting
First week: The beer had a subtle citrusy, Belgian character, with heavy roasted flavours, which surprised me as the previously mentioned Irish Rye had more roasted barley in it and did not have this pungent roasted flavor (maybe it’s the DRC). I could hardly taste the rye. Only the body showed the present of the rye and wheat malts. I could taste a slight, dark chocolate flavor, which was very pleasant. The end was crisp, very much like an Irish Stout (which gave me the idea of an Irish stout fermented with French Saison yeast).
Later on: As the time moved on, the roasted flavor got more and more subtle, while the rye malts started to really shine. After two months, the body got more silky, even to an unpleasant point.
Conclusion
When I decided to use(or rather save) my Saison yeast instead of an abbey strain, I was worried that this could make the entire project pointless. However, in the end I don’t think that this was the case. I learned a lot from this experience and I will definitely work on this recipe, but next time with less rye malt and with an abbey strain.