Spring Beer Season Is Here !

Living in the desert, I have mixed feelings about spring. Yes, the weather is still awesome and it cools into the 50s at night so still a very pleasant time to be here in the Sonoran Desert. However, we all sense the change of seasons. The heat will be here soon enough....

But for now, I am looking for a well attenuated, dry refreshing saison to quench my thirst. So I decided to brew one up but use some interesting hops that I've never tried before.

Learn more about Saison here

Here's my recipe

I call this Rye Saison Ariana Kazbek.

Wasn't sure what to expect but here's what I'm trying to achieve:

1. Rye seems to add body and earthiness /spiciness that should be welcome in a saison

2. I am hoping to get pepper and bubblegum notes from the esters and phenols using Abbaye ale dry yeast by Lallemond, fermenting at a slightly warm temperature

3. I incorporated some new hops (for me) called Ariana (Germany) and Kazbek (Czech)

4. I want a dry, well attenuated beer

5. I want to use a traditional Belgian Ale Yeast (Abbaye Ale Yeast by Lallemond)

About the hops (From Yakima Valley Hops):

Ariana Hops: German Ariana Hop Profile

Ariana hops are a new variety just released by the Hop Research Center in Hüll, Germany. Ariana is the daughter of Herkules and a wild male and is a high-yielding variety. It is juicy with dark fruits like blackcurrants and is backed by smooth oak, tobacco, and vanilla. There are also some bright elements of grapefruit when used in late additions.

Czech Kazbek Hop Profile

Kazbek hops were developed in the Czech Republic and were the first aroma variety in a wave of new releases. Kazbek was officially released in 2008, but the cross for Kazbek hops was actually made back in 1984 when a wild Russian variety was crossed with the daughter of Saaz and Northern Brewer. It is named after one of the highest mountains in the Caucasus Range. Kazbek hops brew up as a "Super Saaz" of sorts. It is bigger with aromas of citrus, sweet fruits, and berries, but still has that classic noble spice.

Fermentation: I ended up getting 1.046 OG / 1.009 FG for around a 5% ABV beer. I pitched the yeast around 70F but it was too cold in my garage so it ended up going down to around 62F in my fermentation fridge (it was set to 70). So after a few days I pulled it out of my fridge and it was closer to 72F on average for the rest of the process.

The Abbaye Ale yeast prefers a temp of 63-77F

Problems: I ran into some trouble with a possible "stuck fermentation". My tilt registered 1.021 after 4 days and seemed stuck there. Even though I pulled the beer out of the fermentation fridge to help warm it up a bit, it was still stuck at 1.021 (according to the tilt hydrometer). I should have taken an actual hydrometer reading but instead I added a half packet of Belle Saison yeast, a super aggressive Saison yeast that attenuates extremely well. I waited a couple days and the tilt still said 1.021! At this point I was starting to doubt the Tilt so I pulled a sample and was at 1.009! Super dry, delicious, bubblegum, pepper, and very hazy.

Final Result: While I am still waiting for the beer to clear, this recipe to me is really excellent. This is a very interesting and pleasant beer to drink. Tastes like a clean saison, but the hops and rye add slight earthiness, berry and maybe even citrus. Super refreshing!

I am sure that adding the unnecessary extra yeast (Belle Saison) will make this difficult to clear up the beer but it's still a nice result. I will definitely brew this recipe again, however this time I will not trust the Tilt and use more traditional methods to measure the Final Gravity....

Overall I give this a 4.5 / 5 stars and I would encourage anyone to give this spring beer release a try!