Saison /w spice or /wo

jjbuck · Post by **jjbuck** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 3:21 pm

I am asking for your valuable opinions. I wish to brew a "specialty saison" with ~ABV of 8.5%. I have pondered whether adding spice to this bigger than normal beer is a good idea. As I understand it, most of the flavors in saisons are from the yeast(ie the fruity flavor). This recipe is 77% pilsener, 7% wheat 5% munich1.2%caramunich and the rest cane sugar. I was contemplating additions of coriander and grains of paradise.
I am interested in what personal tastes are from people who have tasted a lot of beers. Do saisons ever have spices in them, if so what spices are common and did you like them or not.

tompb · Post by **tompb** » Sat Feb 12, 2011 5:03 pm

I would keep the spices restrained if you use them. I've only used grains of paradise once. I split a 10 gallon batch of triple and put 1 gram of cracked seeds into one of the fermenters. It made a huge difference on the beer. For coriander go to HyVee and get it from the Frontier Herbs area.

Matt F · Post by **Matt F** » Sun Feb 13, 2011 10:23 am

Coriander is really cheap at the asian market on 2nd Ave downtown too.

jjbuck · Post by **jjbuck** » Sun Feb 13, 2011 11:16 am

Does anyone have any suggestions for alternate spices in a Saison? (other than grains of paradise and or coriander) Tom, thanks for the suggestion of restraint on the grains of para. I've never used them before.

brownbeard · Post by **brownbeard** » Mon Feb 14, 2011 9:28 am

Some orange or lemon zest might make a nice addition.